Speeches by Brandreth.

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

“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?”

“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…”

“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…”

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

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

“You mention, of course, the links to Jeffrey Epstein, which were in the media at the time. Did you have concerns about Mandelson’s business relationships with China and Russia?”

“I have a few follow-ups.”

“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?”

“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…”

“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…”

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

“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?”

“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…”

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

“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?”

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