Speeches by Brandreth.

“Although I welcome some of the measures announced today, the reality is that instability in the middle east is having a direct impact on the UK economy and on the price paid by British households. Can the Chancellor therefore outline what steps her Department is taking to work across Government to ensure a stable regio…”

“The Foreign Affairs Committee heard about the pressure that the Foreign Office was under to move quickly on the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. Now, concerns have been raised about the lack of transparency surrounding the papers connected to that appointment. If the Government have no…”

“You think that he will have sought sufficient information—that he wouldn’t have needed to carry out a fuller investigation, and perhaps suspend rather than immediately sack him from the job?”

“I want to check something with you. Despite being the head of the diplomatic service, you obviously were not asked by No. 10 or the Prime Minister, directly or indirectly, your view on Peter Mandelson’s suitability for the role. Had you been asked, would you have said that you had concerns about the reputational risks …”

“Was there a contingency plan in place for what might happen if he were not granted security clearance?”

“That is okay. Thank you for your answer on that. I must say, it appeared to me that there was a significant amount of information that had come forward in the due diligence, but I think there may be some questions from others on that, so I won’t push on that now. My question was about Sir Oliver Robbins and the decisio…”

“Okay. Thinking about the security vetting, we heard from Sir Philip Barton that there was no contingency plan in place in case security clearance was not granted to Peter Mandelson. Had you considered the possibility that clearance would be denied, and had you put any contingency plan in place?”

“What was the normal order of process in place at the time? Would you say that the normal order would be vetting and then announcement, or announcement and then vetting?”

“And he was the one who ultimately will have made the decision, not being persuaded or doing what somebody else wanted him to do?”

“Sir Oliver Robbins, the former permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, has lost his job. When the PM was asked, he said that he did not accept the explanation as to why he overruled the verdict of security vetting, and that is why he sacked him. Do you think that somebody should be sacked for an error of judgm…”

“What about when he was special envoy to the British Indian Ocean Territories?”

“You know the United States very well from your previous diplomatic role there, and you probably had links with people out there. Were you aware of any views expressed by the President’s transitional team about concerns about Mandelson being given that post, or about Dame Karen Pierce being moved on from the post?”

“I have a few follow-ups.”

“How involved would you say the Foreign Secretary was at the time in that decision to appoint Mandelson as the ambassador?”

“I wanted to ask about the fact that back in September 2024, Lord Case—Simon Case—had written to the Prime Minister advising that security vetting should be carried out prior to the appointment of Peter Mandelson. However, the announcement was made on 20 December 2024, and it was not until three days later that security…”

“I wanted to ask a very quick follow-up to one of the questions Alex asked, about the types and levels of classified information that Peter Mandelson saw prior to going out to the US. Would you have expected the ambassador to the US to be briefed on and know what was in the China audit?”

“I completely understand that you said you are guessing that, but were you aware that it was expected that briefings would include some information about the work that was being undertaken as part of the China audit?”

“I want to go back over some of the questions that the Chair asked you. I will ask some follow-ups and seek some clarification on some of them. You said that you were out in the States at the start of December prior to the appointment being made. When you were out there, in the offline conversations that you were having…”

“You clearly felt that Peter Mandelson was the right person for the job. You had recommended him to the Prime Minister, although you have said that you believe that the Prime Minister would have sought a wide range of opinions. Despite the fact that you ultimately resigned over your advice to the Prime Minister, would y…”

“Aware, but did you consider it? Did you actively think this could happen in this case?”