Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 28th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Badenoch]

We have another Minister coming to the Dispatch Box to say something quite different. Simon Case, the then Cabinet Secretary, set out what the full due process was. A note from the Cabinet Secretary a year after the appointment—after Peter Mandelson had been sacked and after I had asked questions at the Dispatch Box—is not an exoneration. It is part of the cover-up.

We have been told by Sir Olly Robbins, the former permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, that the Government showed a “dismissive attitude” to vetting and even argued that Peter Mandelson did not need any vetting—that is not due process. We have been told that No. 10 put “constant pressure” on the Foreign Office to approve the application—that is not due process.

Sir Philip Barton, the former permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, said this morning that he was

“presented with a decision… There was no space for dialogue”.

He also confirmed that the normal order is vetting and then announcement, but in this case the announcement was before the vetting—that is not due process.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for securing and introducing this motion. Does she agree that there is a very dangerous pattern emerging in the Government’s judgment after they bypassed vetting to appoint Lord Mandelson, a man with well-documented security concerns? Is she also concerned about the Government hand-picking an Attorney General whose hands are still warm from defending Gerry Adams against the victims of IRA terror? It is little wonder that the people of this nation, out there in the streets, are worried and concerned. Well done to the Leader of the Opposition for bringing this motion forward.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. You are straying outside the debate, Mr Shannon, and we must not do that.