David Lammy offered up a half-hearted apology for Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US Ambassador:
“As Foreign Secretary at the time of course I was subject to collective responsibility and I am sorry that that decision was made.”
Lammy has previously briefed the newspapers that he was actually against Mandelson’s appointment. Not quite taking responsibility here…
Defence minister Louise Sandher-Jones was forced to correct the record in the Commons today after she claimed that Starmer had never worked with disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner. As Guido revealed two years ago, Starmer literally contributed an entire chapter to Shiner’s book in 2008. Starmer also advised Shiner on a legal challenge aiming to stop peace activists’ taxes from funding military action…
Sandher-Jones was forced to make a Point of Order today to apologise:
“I would like to correct the record in relation to something I said during the last defence orals. On the 2nd of February, 2026, I said the prime minister did not work with any of Phil Shiner’s organisations and his role was limited to working with the law society on points of law. However, since then, it has been brought to my attention that in 2006, the prime minister was instructed to represent an individual by the law firm for which Mr. Shiner was the principal solicitor. So I would like to take this earliest opportunity to apologise to the House and correct the record.”
No defence for that…
The government has said it will not ask the French to remove Peter Mandelson’s Legion of Honour. He got the award in 2017 for “devoting his entire career to serving the UK and EU”…
The Legion d’honneur was created by Napoleon Bonaparte and is granted for gallantry in military action or 20 years of distinguished military or civilian service in peace. Mandelson got it at a glitzy event in London…
Asked by Tory Mike Wood if the FCDO would make representations to the French for the removal of the award, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said:
“That is a matter for the French authorities, as was the original decision to make the award.”
Presumably the police found it in the man drawer during one of their searches…
The dead tree press has caught up with Guido’s reporting on the ill-fated smoking ban. It violates the Windsor Framework through its imposition in Northern Ireland…
Now seven EU nations have put in formal submissions of concern about the legislation, which goes to report stage in the Lords today at about 4 p.m. Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia…
British authorities have so far refused to publish any guidance of theirs which proves the ban won’t violate the Framework. A legal ‘discussion’ will take place with the EU and could result in formal action from the bloc if single market rules are deemed to have been breached. The British government will attempt to avoid this – it is so far remaining bullish. The DHSC says:
“We have provided a comprehensive response to the European Commission on the detailed opinions received, setting out the reasons why our smoke-free generation policy is fully compatible with our international treaty obligations in Northern Ireland.”
In November a government spokesperson said: “The Bill is not blocked, it’s not delayed, and we expect it to apply to the whole UK.” ‘Expect’…
Reform’s ‘Shadow Business, Trade & Energy Secretary’ Richard Tice is in Birmingham to outline his plans for the business and energy sectors, including establishing a British Sovereign Wealth Fund and a “Great Repeal Bill”. Watch live below…
Tice pledges to:
Speaking on the phone to Jonathan Karl, Chief Washington Correspondent at ABC News, about Khamenei, Trump said:
“I got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well, I got him first.”