Speeches by Brandreth.

“So at no time, until it came out in the media, were you ever told or aware that he would get payment. You were not consulted at any stage on the terms of his departure.”

“Were you aware that others in No. 10 were considering whether making a severance payment would reduce the likelihood of Lord Mandelson potentially becoming a public critic of the Government?”

“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 …”

“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?”

“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?”

“I have a few follow-ups.”

“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 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?”

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

“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?”

“Were you aware that others in No. 10 were considering whether making a severance payment would reduce the likelihood of Lord Mandelson potentially becoming a public critic of the Government?”

“I just want to check—you talked about the process that Jonathan Powell had gone through, as far as you understood, in terms of going through developed vetting before he took up the political appointment of being National Security Adviser. I understand that, prior to that, he was already a special envoy to the British I…”

“Okay. So you do not recognise the reports that there may have been emails that said that, if they paid him off, it would limit his reputational risk.”

“Do you believe that those conversations may have taken place?”

“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?”

“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…”

“I have a couple of final questions in relation to Matthew Doyle. We heard from Sir Oliver Robbins that the Prime Minister had inquired, as I am sure you are aware, about a diplomatic role for Matthew Doyle. Why do you think that the Prime Minister did not want David Lammy, who was the Foreign Secretary at the time, to …”

“Civil servants, including those in ambassadorial roles, can be eligible for a severance payment when their employment is terminated. Were you aware that Peter Mandelson would receive a severance payment on leaving his role?”

“So at no time, until it came out in the media, were you ever told or aware that he would get payment. You were not consulted at any stage on the terms of his departure.”