Farage was given £5m by the Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 general electionExclusive: Farage was given undisclosed £5m by crypto billionaire in 2024Here is the running order for PMQs.Nigel Farage was given £5m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, Anna Isaac reports. Continue reading...
Nigel Farage was given £5m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, Anna Isaac reports.
MPs rejected a Conservative party proposal for the prime minister to face a parliamentary inquiry into his appointment of Peter MandelsonQ: Was there pressure on you to approve Mandelson’s vetting?This is a reference to the claim that Keir Starmer misled MPs last week when he talked about no pressure being placed on the Foreign Office.One is during my tenure. I was not aware of any pressure on the substance of the Mandelson DV case.Question two was there pressure? Absolutely. And I’ve described
MPs rejected a Conservative party proposal for the prime minister to face a parliamentary inquiry into his appointment of Peter Mandelson
Q: Was there pressure on you to approve Mandelson’s vetting?
This is a reference to the claim that Keir Starmer misled MPs last week when he talked about no pressure being placed on the Foreign Office.
One is during my tenure. I was not aware of any pressure on the substance of the Mandelson DV case.
Question two was there pressure? Absolutely. And I’ve described it. And I also have seen what the Foreign Office said to you last night. [See 8.50am.]
I didn’t receive any direct calls from the chief of staff during my time as permanent undersecretary. So there was no call at all. My interactions were always when others were present in a general meeting, there weren’t very many of those either …
I’ve really racked my brains and I cannot recall Morgan McSweeney swearing in a meeting at me, or indeed just in general. So I don’t see any substance in that part of it and I think it’s important I say that this morning, given how many people have come to think that might be true.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle earlier confirmed that MPs will decide whether to let inquiry into Keir Starmer’s statements over Peter Mandelson proceedDowning Street has said that the UK is “in a good position” to handle the global supply problems caused by the Iran war not being resolved.Speaking at the morning lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said:We remain focused on a long-term, permanent solution to the crisis. As a result of the forward-planning, the government undertook over the past few
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle earlier confirmed that MPs will decide whether to let inquiry into Keir Starmer’s statements over Peter Mandelson proceed
Downing Street has said that the UK is “in a good position” to handle the global supply problems caused by the Iran war not being resolved.
Speaking at the morning lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said:
We remain focused on a long-term, permanent solution to the crisis. As a result of the forward-planning, the government undertook over the past few months, the UK is in a good position.
We’re ramping up planning for all different potential impacts on the UK economy and consumers, and that means focusing on a live monitoring of stock levels and what plans are in place for addressing supply chain disruption.
Even Boris Johnson didn’t block his MPs voting for scrutiny. Labour MPs must be given a free vote on any motion to refer Starmer to the privileges committee, not forced into being accomplices to a cover-up.
If Keir Starmer has misled the House and the public, he must be held to the same standard that we should expect of any prime minister.
Firm went bust in February amid fallout from the scandal over Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey EpsteinLittle says in March she had a meeting when she asked to see the Foreign Office’s documentation about the decision to grant Mandelson vetting. She said she was asking because this was documentation covered by the humble address. She said was told that “that information would not be forthcoming”.In the middle of March, I have a meeting with Sir Olly and a senior member of his team, and this is after
Firm went bust in February amid fallout from the scandal over Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein
Little says in March she had a meeting when she asked to see the Foreign Office’s documentation about the decision to grant Mandelson vetting. She said she was asking because this was documentation covered by the humble address. She said was told that “that information would not be forthcoming”.
In the middle of March, I have a meeting with Sir Olly and a senior member of his team, and this is after the point that I’ve been told that this summary document exists.
I specifically ask to see this document and any decision-making audit trail around those judgments at the time. It was made clear to me that that information would not be forthcoming.
I took the very unusual judgment that I should directly request the information from UK Security Vetting.
And I did that because I go back to my responsibilities, to discharge the humble address, which is a responsibility that is unique to me and I take very seriously.
Jonathan Brash says ‘own goals’ are distracting from Labour’s achievementsUK inflation accelerated to 3.3% in March after the Iran war triggered the biggest jump in fuel prices for more than three years, Richard Partington reports.Today the Liberal Democrats staged a photocall to publicise their line about this being “Trumpflation”. Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson, said:People across our country have been struggling for years with a devastating cost-of-living cr
Jonathan Brash says ‘own goals’ are distracting from Labour’s achievements
UK inflation accelerated to 3.3% in March after the Iran war triggered the biggest jump in fuel prices for more than three years, Richard Partington reports.
Today the Liberal Democrats staged a photocall to publicise their line about this being “Trumpflation”. Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson, said:
People across our country have been struggling for years with a devastating cost-of-living crisis and Donald Trump’s idiotic war in Iran has added to it. The cost of fuel is soaring, mortgage rates are rising and fixed energy deals are already going up by hundreds of pounds.
But what is utterly inexcusable is that there are politicians in this country - Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch - who are happy to cheerlead Donald Trump as he hikes people’s bills. All the while this Labour government promised to fix the country but instead we’ve got political Groundhog Day: yet more sleaze and scandal.
Earlier, ousted Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins told MPs he had faced ‘constant pressure’ from No 10 to get Mandelson in postRobbins v Starmer: the key Mandelson points they disagree onThe hearing has started.Emily Thornberry, the chair, started by saying that Robbins did not tell the whole truth about this process when he gave evidence to it in November. Continue reading...
MPs jeer as PM says it is ‘incredible’ he was not told full story and says he was wrong to appoint Mandelson as US ambassador At his press conference Nigel Farage was asked about reports saying that Keir Starmer knew about the security concerns about Peter Mandelson that led to him failing his security vetting interview. That was a reference to the Telegraph splash, which says:Senior Whitehall sources told The Telegraph that the UKSV [UK Security Vetting] findings largely restated security risks
MPs jeer as PM says it is ‘incredible’ he was not told full story and says he was wrong to appoint Mandelson as US ambassador
At his press conference Nigel Farage was asked about reports saying that Keir Starmer knew about the security concerns about Peter Mandelson that led to him failing his security vetting interview. That was a reference to the Telegraph splash, which says:
Senior Whitehall sources told The Telegraph that the UKSV [UK Security Vetting] findings largely restated security risks that had already been drawn to Sir Keir’s attention.
One senior source with knowledge of the process said: “The reality is that Starmer had already been warned about the major risks and he had waved them away.”
Sources have told The Independent that MI6 failed to clear the Labour peer largely because of concerns over his business links to China.
However, there were also worries that his past links to the disgraced financier and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein “would compromise him”.
It’s impossible for the prime minister to say the warning lights weren’t flashing.
And if you were prime minister and there were news reports last September that your ambassadorial choice had failed vetting, you would have thought perhaps he might have had some curiosity to try to find out whether this had really happened or not. I just find the whole thing totally incredible. Incredible. There is no way the prime minister couldn’t have known.
The Labour backbenchers are not yet of a mood to get rid of their prime minister, although after 7 May they just might be.
The prime minister was not aware that the former US ambassador had failed the vetting process, according to Downing StreetSwinney says this is a manifesto for the whole of Scotland.He confirms that the SNP would argue for the Scottish power to have more control over energy policy (still largely reserved to Westminter). He says:The problem is not that we do not have the energy. The problem is that Westminster has the power. This election is our opportunity to take those powers and put them into S
The prime minister was not aware that the former US ambassador had failed the vetting process, according to Downing Street
Swinney says this is a manifesto for the whole of Scotland.
He confirms that the SNP would argue for the Scottish power to have more control over energy policy (still largely reserved to Westminter). He says:
The problem is not that we do not have the energy. The problem is that Westminster has the power. This election is our opportunity to take those powers and put them into Scotland’s hands.
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