Tag: Speeches

Peter Mandelson – 2025 Email Requesting Foreign Office Help

The email sent by Peter Mandelson on 17 September 2025 and released as part of the Mandelson files.

From: Peter Mandelson
Sent: 17 September 2025 14:35
To: Mark Power < @fcdo.gov.uk>

Subject: Re: Further correspondence

Thank you for your letter. These dates are right given the delay in obtaining Jock’s veterinary certification.

My chief concern is leaving the US and arriving in the UK with the maximum dignity and minimum media intrusion which I think is to the advantage of all concerned, not least because I remain a crown/civil servant and expect to be treated as such.

How is the FCDO assisting in this ?

I am not sure what you mean by paras 12 and 13. My understanding is that I have common law employment rights but this will be better understood by lawyers than by me.

Very best

Peter

11/03/2026
Olly Robbins – 2025 Business Case to Pay

The document written by Olly Robbins on 6 October 2025 and released as part of the Mandelson files.

ollyrobins Download

11/03/2026
Bridget Phillipson – 2026 Speech at the RISE Inclusion Conference

The speech made by Bridget Phillipson, the Secretary of State for Education, on 9 March 2026.

Today I want to start by telling you about a child with an inspiring story.

His name is Joshua – and he’s a happy boy from Brighton.

At age five Joshua was diagnosed with Autism.

In his own words, it’s a part of him, but not what defines him.

Now his first experience of school wasn’t great.

The school wasn’t set up to meet his needs – and so he could only manage 10 minutes in the classroom a day.

Too noisy.

Too many people.

He had to leave the school because it just wasn’t working him – his education was suffering and he wasn’t achieving all he could.

That’s when he started at West Blatchington Primary, part of The Pioneer Academy trust – and his path in life changed.

Joshua benefitted straight away from the school’s on site SEND unit.

He learned how to manage his feelings and build friendships – so that soon he was ready to join his classmates in the mainstream class.

He went from barely coming in to being in school all day, every day.

Joshua achieved and he thrived – in school and out. He became a Beaver, then a Cub, then a Scout. He’s made lots of friends.

And now he’s sharing his story with children across the south east and raising awareness of autism – giving assemblies in 14 different schools.

He even gave the keynote speech at the Croydon Inclusion Conference and at the Brighton and Hove Inclusion Conference too.

Joshua proudly tells people that he ‘smashed’ his SATs and is now doing well at a mainstream secondary school.

He shows what can happen when we get it right for children with SEND.

For his primary school’s celebration of 30 years of their SEND unit, Joshua wrote a message of thanks:

“West Blatch changed my life and for that I’m eternally grateful.”

That’s what we do this for.

You’ll have your own stories of success… the children in your schools who you were able to support and who did well.

That feeling of having made a difference, there’s nothing like it.

The young people like Joshua, living better lives because you were there for them at a crucial time.

Thank you, for everything you do for the children of this country.

But you’ll know that the system just isn’t set up to meet the needs of most children like Joshua.

I’ve spent the last year speaking to teachers about this.

And they tell me that the stories of success are despite, not because of, the system we have.

Leaders tell me that the system doesn’t deliver success as standard for children with SEND… it usually only comes when your heroic staff go above and beyond.

I’ve spoken to parents and carers too. Mams and dads are fed up…

not of you and your staff…

they know how hard you work, they see your dedication…

rather they are fed up of the faceless, soulless system that governs what their child gets and how…

support that is not delivered freely but must be fought at every step of the way…

support that responds in the first instance not to need but to paperwork.

I know it’s a system that frustrates you just as much.

You’ll know that parents have had enough of seeing their child underachieve…

not through a lack of effort…

not through a lack of talent…

not through a lack of hard work from staff.

But because children with SEND suffer from a system of late support, inconsistent support…

support that only exists far away, so that at weekends and during the holidays they have no friends to play with back home.

Where is the connection to community in that?

Where is the sense that all children belong in our society… when the system sends so many of them away?

Children with SEND are being failed because the system we have inherited is not set up for them to succeed in their local school.

Not yet anyway.

But it will be.

I know that for too long, so much has been asked of you – by government, by parents and by society.

At times you have become a fourth emergency service, stepping up when wider services fail.

And I want to thank you and your staff for that, for going above and beyond, again and again.

You do it because you care, because you can’t and won’t just look the other way.

But you shouldn’t have to fill all these gaps…

and I’m determined that you won’t be doing it alone.

Under this government we are rebuilding childhood and family services.

Our Best Start Family Hubs give parents all the support they need for their child’s early years – and now including support for SEND.

We’ve delivered the 30-hours a week of government-funded childcare and begun to turn around the children’s social care system.

We’re expanding free school meals, rolling out free breakfast clubs, ending the two-child limit… fighting the disgrace of child poverty.

And by 2030, I am deeply proud that this government will have lifted more than half a million children out of relative poverty… and that we will see the largest ever reduction in child poverty in a single parliament.

I know change won’t come in full overnight, of course…

but over time you’ll see fewer children arriving for their first day of school in nappies…

you’ll spend less time supporting children to catch up thanks to early intervention in crucial areas like language…

and you’ll no longer be under pressure to run a foodbank as well as a school.

This is about providing the right support at the right time, so that when children reach your classroom, they are ready and raring to go.

Two weeks ago, building on those strong foundations, I launched this government’s schools white paper, setting a new vision for education in this country…

A future in which children grow up together, go to their local school together, achieve and thrive together.

A future of high standards and inclusion.

A future in which all children with SEND get the rights they deserve…

the right to be included in their local schools…

the right to enjoy exactly the same high standards and expectations that we have for other children.

And, colleagues, we get there through inclusive mainstream.

More children educated at a great local school…

with their friends, close to their family, a core part of their local community.

And to those who say that inclusion in our schools will come at the cost of high standards…

I say: you are wrong. The evidence proves it.

My department has looked at English and maths GCSE results for children with SEND.

And those children do better in mainstream schools than specialist schools.

Don’t just take our word for it.

Research from the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education shows that children with SEND in mainstream schools have a better chance of getting a job when they leave.

Inclusive mainstream can offer children with SEND the precious opportunity to go on to live a rich and fulfilling adult life.

And research also shows that, when they learn alongside their peers…

children both with and without SEND tend to do better, both academically and socially.

Because inclusion and high standards…

it’s not one or the other, it’s both.

These are the changes in our schools that I want to work hand-in-hand with you to deliver.

A new system of support as standard, layered to meet different needs.

Universal for all.

And where needs are greater, targeted support through Individual Support Plans.

Then specialist provision for children who need it.

I ask you to work with us and with your families to run this new system.

Establish an inclusion base for children with more complex needs.

Draw up an inclusion strategy, show how you’re going to make inclusion a defining strength of your school.

Join together with local schools in groups to pool ideas and resources, spreading what works… because the only way we succeed is together, partners in our shared moral mission to make education work for every child.

The spirit of collaboration – parents and teachers and support staff, schools and other schools, local services coming together alongside Government.

You will be at the centre of this generational change for our children and our country.

Your talent. Your dedication. Your expertise.

And to see these changes through, I’m backing you…

the Chancellor is backing you…

with £1.6 billion for an inclusive mainstream fund so you can build inclusion into school life…

£3.7 billion to develop inclusion bases, improve accessibility and create new special school places…

£200 million to train your staff to deliver for children with SEND.

The new Experts at Hand service – in time, a bank of professional support for children…

occupational therapists, educational psychologists, speech and language therapists…

freed up to support students, not fill out forms…

ready to go when need arises, not only after a battle is fought.

And our RISE service is here to support you.

Our RISE inclusive mainstream offer has already been delivering webinars and setting up national networks for support bases.

And we’ll work to grow our offer of support, to guide you through these new reforms, especially by sharing and spreading good practice.

You are not alone in this. It’s a shared endeavour.

Schools will sit at the centre of a system of support that stretches through childhood and beyond.

And I will give you the resources you need to make your schools places of inclusion and excellence for all.

But I won’t leave this to chance.

Inclusion is no longer a nice-to-have.

It’s an essential marker of school performance, and Ofsted have changed their inspections to recognise it.

For the first time, inclusion has its own dedicated judgement when Ofsted inspect nurseries, schools and colleges.

We’ll highlight what works and multiply it so that all children can benefit.

But this isn’t the end of the conversation. We’ve launched a consultation – and I urge you all to get in touch and tell us what you think… have your say on how these reforms should be designed and delivered in practice.

We’re asking everyone with a stake to make their voices heard, in service of all the children in our schools.

Those children deserve a school system that moves to meet their needs, a system that knows inclusion is a strength, not a weakness.

Because the best schools are not those that shut themselves away, offering excellence only to a narrow band of children.

The best schools open themselves up to their communities, they offer excellence to all, and they are stronger for it.

I want to work with you to spread that into every school in the country, so that every child can benefit… so that Joshua’s experience is no longer the exception, but the norm.

Before us we have a once-in-a-generation chance for change.

So let’s come together now – members of our shared moral mission – and build a school system that works for each and every child.

Thank you.

11/03/2026
Darren Jones – 2026 Speech on the Public Consultation for Digital ID

The speech made by Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 10 March 2026.

Today the Government are launching a national conversation on how we will build and use digital ID as the means to access public services digitally on a mobile phone or computer.

Public services are meant to be there at the most important moments of your life: free childcare hours to help your children get a good start in life, getting your passport to go on your first holiday, passing your driving test and getting your first driving licence, asking for help if you lose your job, or receiving your state pension in retirement. But today, as the House knows, it is often too hard for people to get what they need when they need it. The current legacy system of call centres, paperwork and the need for people to tell their story multiple times to different parts of Government, with hours on hold and not knowing where they are in the process, is not good enough. I want to change that, and this Government will.

In its place, we will build a truly modern Britain where public services work for the citizen, through new digital public services that come together on the gov.uk app, so that help is there when people need it most. To do that, Government need to build the foundations for these new modern public services, and that is exactly what this digital ID system is for. It will be free to access for anyone who wishes to use it, and it will be built on three core principles. First, it must be useful. It needs to be easier than the old telephone and paper-based systems. Secondly, it must be secure. People will have more control over what data they share, and we expect nothing less than the level of security protections provided by banks for online banking services. Thirdly, it must be for everyone. We will not leave people behind, and the Government will help those who are less confident with technology or do not have other forms of ID, such as a passport.

With a digital ID, citizens will be able to log in to the gov.uk app and then, crucially, prove who they are. But unlike an ordinary login, the digital ID will work across different Departments and services, bringing those all together in one place in the gov.uk app, so that the public can access all the services they need in one place. This is different from building one giant Government IT system—that is not what we are doing. Services will remain on separate IT systems in their relevant Departments, and the NHS app and citizens’ health data will always remain separate, but the gov.uk app and digital ID will, over time, bring all other public services into one app on mobile phones—the front door to modern public services.

This will not be a new experience for citizens. The public already use these systems every day, from banking to shopping. Other countries are already far ahead of us, from Denmark and Estonia to Australia and India. Britain is having to catch up.

It is an issue of convenience and efficiency, but it is also one of fairness and equality. We all know who the status quo often favours: those with the resources, the headspace, and perhaps the pointy elbows or the pushiness to get themselves to the front of the queue or allow them to play the system. But public services are meant Toggle showing location ofColumn 182to be there when people need them most, and how the legacy system has sometimes treated people in these stressful or difficult situations is quite frankly an outrage, piling them up with bureaucracy and leaving them without the help they need.

Who is it who struggles to fill in the forms correctly or lacks the form of ID required? Who are the one in seven people across the UK who do not have a passport? They are often the strivers who are juggling work and caring responsibilities. This Government believe that everybody deserves a fair shot, and it is up to Government to give people support and a leg-up when they need it.

Today we are launching this national conversation to discuss how we will build and use a digital ID. We want to know where frustrations exist with the current legacy system and which services could be made easier via the gov.uk app. Later today, I will share a prototype of how a digital ID could work that shows how “government by app” could become a reality, joining up different Departments and services so that the public do not have to do the work themselves.

In the initial stages, the digital ID system will start by making it easier to complete simple administrative tasks, such as proving one’s right to work when starting a job. Other tasks, such as paying car tax, ordering a passport or sorting childcare entitlements, could become part of the same app. I understand that the idea of a digital ID has sparked significant public interest, so I have instructed my Department to ensure that this consultation goes further than any other that the Government have done before.

As part of the public consultation, which is live right now, we will invite a representative sample of the public at large—from all walks of life and all parts of the country—to form a people’s panel. [Interruption.] That deliberative democracy process will build on our experience of supporting Parliament’s citizens assembly on net zero in the previous Parliament. Working with over 100 citizens, we will debate the difficult questions, find ways forward and build a system that can secure the trust and support of everyone. [Interruption.] To those Members chuntering from a sedentary position about having a conversation with the public, I say, “What do you fear?” This Government are very happy to talk to the public about what we are doing, and I look forward to talking to hon. Members’ constituents if they are selected to be part of the process.

I understand that this will not be for everyone. I hope that the services we build will be so good that most people will wish to use them, but for those who do not, I want to make sure that help is on hand in their local community. That is why the roll-out of the digital ID will be accompanied by a digital inclusion drive to help people to access and use the services. I do not come to Parliament today with preconceived answers, and we will of course need to ensure that any future scheme is value for money, but I am interested to hear ideas about how we might use the people and buildings we already support through public expenditure to help local communities. We could use local post offices and postal workers, or libraries and jobcentres, to ensure that the majority of people can, if they need to, access digital assistance to use these services. For those who really do not wish to, traditional routes will of course still be made available.

As right hon. and hon. Members from across the House know, by the end of this Parliament, digital checks to verify someone’s right to work will be mandatory when they start a new job. It is currently a legal requirement for employers to check that a new employee has a legal right to work in the United Kingdom, but the often paper-based approach of photocopying or scanning a passport or utility bills, without further checks, is vulnerable to fraud and does not create a clear record for enforcement agents of when and where checks have been carried out. That is why the Prime Minister has asked for those existing checks to be conducted digitally by the end of this Parliament. It will still be the employer’s responsibility, but employees will be able to choose between using their Government digital ID—as we are setting out today—and using a passport, e-visa or other alternative method. It will be easier and quicker for individuals to demonstrate their right to work. For businesses, it will streamline and reduce the cost of compliance reporting. For the Home Office, it will create a digital audit trail of where checks have been carried out, to support enforcement where checks have not been carried out and to deter those who think that it is too easy to work illegally in the United Kingdom.

This is quite a technical consultation, but it is also a deeply political one. When the public voted for change they also voted for better public services. That is what Labour Governments at their best are all about: building new and innovative public services to support opportunity for all, rather than for just the privileged few—from the NHS in the 1940s, to the Open University in the 1960s and Sure Start centres in the 2000s. Today we are continuing that proud Labour tradition by building modern, digital public services that extend opportunity and support for people when they need it. This stands in stark contrast to political parties that wish to conserve the unacceptable status quo, or that offer to tear everything down and leave people on their own.

We want people across Britain to want this system, we want them to be part of it, and we want them to have the opportunity to shape it. This consultation is that opportunity. I look forward to the involvement of Members from across the House and of our constituents. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Josh Simons) for his work on this issue to date, and the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Frith), for all the work that he will now do to make this a reality—for which I will take the credit if it goes well, and he the blame if it goes wrong. I commend this statement to the House.

11/03/2026
Keir Starmer – 2026 Statement on Iran

The statement made by Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 1 March 2026.

Yesterday, I spoke to you about the situation in the Gulf and explained that the United Kingdom was not involved in the strikes on Iran.

That remains the case.

Over the last two days Iran has launched sustained attacks across the region at countries who did not attack them.

They’ve hit airports and hotels where British citizens are staying.

This is clearly a dangerous situation.

We have at least 200,000 British citizens in the region – residents, families on holiday, and those in transit.

I ask all our people in the region to please register your presence and follow Foreign Office travel advice.

I know this is a deeply worrying time and we will continue to do all we can to support you.

Our Armed Forces who are located across the region are also being put at risk by Iran’s actions.

Yesterday Iran hit a military base in Bahrain, narrowly missing British personnel.

The death of the Supreme Leader will not stop Iran from launching these strikes.

Their approach is becoming even more reckless – and more dangerous to civilians.

Our decision that the UK would not be involved with the strikes on Iran was deliberate.

Not least because we believe that the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement.

One in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon.

But Iran is striking British interests nonetheless, and putting British people at huge risk, along with our allies across the region.

That is the situation we face today.

Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them, and it is my duty to protect British lives.

We have British jets in the air as part of coordinated defensive operations which have already successfully intercepted Iranian strikes.

But the only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source – in their storage depots or the launchers which used to fire the missiles.

The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose.

We have taken the decision to accept this request – to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk, and hitting countries that have not been involved.

The basis of our decision is the collective self-defence of longstanding friends and allies, and protecting British lives.

That is in accordance with international law. And we are publishing a summary of our legal advice.

We are not joining these strikes, but we will continue with our defensive actions in the region.

And we will also bring experts from Ukraine together with our own experts to help Gulf partners shoot down Iranian drones attacking them.

I want to be very clear: we all remember the mistakes of Iraq.

And we have learned those lessons.

We were not involved in the initial strikes on Iran and we will not join offensive action now.

But Iran is pursuing a scorched earth strategy – so we are supporting the collective self-defence of our allies and our people in the region.

Because that is our duty to the British people.

It is the best way to eliminate the urgent threat and prevent the situation spiralling further.

This is the British government protecting British interests and British lives.

04/03/2026
Keir Starmer – 2026 Statement on Iran

The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 28 February 2026.

Earlier this morning, the United States and Israel struck targets in Iran.

Iran has since launched indiscriminate strikes across the region.

I know the British people and communities across our country will be deeply concerned about what this means for security and stability and for the fate of innocent people across the region – which for so many of us includes friends and family members.

So while the situation is evolving very quickly, I want to set out our response.

The United Kingdom played no role in these strikes.

But we have long been clear – the regime in Iran is utterly abhorrent.

They have murdered thousands of their own people, brutally crushed dissent, and sought to destabilise the region.

Even in the United Kingdom, the Iranian regime poses a direct threat to dissidents and the Jewish community.

Over the last year alone, they have backed more than 20 potentially lethal attacks on UK soil.

So it’s clear – they must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.

That remains the primary aim of the United Kingdom and our allies – including the US.

I condemn Iran’s attacks today on partners across the region, many of which are not parties to this conflict.

We extend our support and solidarity to them.

As part of our commitments to the security of our allies in the Middle East we have a range of defensive capabilities in the region – which we’ve recently taken steps to strengthen.

Our forces are active and British planes are in the sky today as part of coordinated regional defensive operations to protect our people, our interests, and our allies – as Britain has done before, in line with international law.

We’ve stepped up protections for British bases and personnel to their highest level.

We are also reaching out to UK nationals in the region and doing everything we can to support them.

I have been speaking with leaders today – from the E3, and across the region.

It is vital now that we prevent further escalation and return to a diplomatic process.

We want to see peace and security, and the protection of civilian life.

Iran can end this now.

They should refrain from further strikes, give up their weapons programmes, and cease the appalling violence and repression against the Iranian people – who deserve the right to determine their own future, in line with our longstanding position.

That is the route to de-escalation and back to the negotiating table.

02/03/2026
Keir Starmer – Statement on Fourth Anniversary of Invasion of Ukraine

The statement made by Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 24 February 2026.

Good morning, colleagues. And before we get into our usual business today, I just wanted to say a few words to mark the four years of the conflict in Ukraine. That’s four years of Putin aggression. Four long years and four long years of suffering in Ukraine. And, you will have your own images and memories of that suffering.

I’ve got three etched in my mind. The first is in the early days when I went to Kyiv after conflict broke out, I went to Bucha, which is just outside Kyiv, and saw for myself the roads and the ditches in which Ukrainian civilians were handcuffed with their hands behind their back, blindfolded and shot in the head and the bodies left in the road.

I’d seen the images on film, but I went to see for myself the actual place and talked to the communities there. It was their families. It was their brothers and sisters. It was their communities. And they were left, as they described to me, to pick up the bodies, put them in shopping trolleys and take them to the local church where they put them in a mass grave.

The second etched in my memory was last year when I went to one of the busiest hospitals in Kyiv and saw for myself the incredibly awful burns on some of those who had returned from the frontline, the like of which I’d never seen in my life before. And at the same time, I went to a primary school to meet children who were five, six, seven years old, and had lost both their parents to the conflict.

There will be many examples, including the recent attacks on the energy system, when was -18 degrees and left people freezing in their homes. But that is the suffering inflicted by the aggression of Putin. My message to you, the Cabinet, and to the country today, as we mark this four years, is that we stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

I wanted also to pay tribute to the incredible resilience of the Ukrainians. And it is incredible resilience. When this conflict broke out four years ago, it was assumed it would be a matter of weeks before Putin took the whole of Ukraine. That’s what everybody believed to be the case. Four years later, the Ukrainians are holding out against that aggression. Holding out on the front line where the circumstances are extremely challenging, but also holding out in the civilian life, where every day Ukrainians get up and go to work as a sign of resilience and defiance of the aggression.

And, we must defeat the falsehood that Russia is winning. Because if you take the last year alone, Russia took 0.8%, of land in Ukraine at a terrible cost to themselves of half a million losses. So we pay tribute to the resilience of Ukrainians. We all want a just and lasting peace. And that is what we’re all working so hard for.

It must be just. And it must be lasting. That’s why we set up a coalition of the willing a year ago, to do the work that was necessary on security guarantees. And I’m chairing a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, immediately after this Cabinet to try and take that work further forward. But let’s be clear in terms of getting to that just and lasting peace, it is Putin who is standing in the way.

Zelenskyy has shown willing. He’s taken the lead. It is Putin who is standing in the way. And that’s why we must always double down on our support for Ukraine. That means capability. It means resource. It means more sanctions. And today, I’m pleased that we’re announcing the biggest package since 2022. In terms of sanctions package. That’s 300 Russian energy companies that are being targeted.

And we’re doing a lot more work on the shadow fleet, which is essential in terms of weakening the ability of Russia to continue with this aggression.

And then finally this, because this is not a remote conflict a long way away from the United Kingdom. It’s about us on so many levels. It’s about our values of freedom, democracy, and the right of a country to decide for itself what it does, which is democracy and sovereignty.

It has already impacted us over and above the work we’ve done on capability, resource sanctions, etc., because it has hit every family with the cost of living. Energy prices doubled at the beginning of this conflict. They’re still 40% higher than they were before the conflict. And so every family is feeling this, and how and when this conflict ends is going to affect everybody in the United Kingdom, for a very long time, which is why it’s so important that we make sure that there’s a just and lasting peace.

And Ukraine is very much the frontline of our freedom, but we need to bear that in mind as we lost four years since the outbreak of this conflict. Thank you, colleagues.

27/02/2026
Monica Harding – 2026 Speech on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (former Prince Andrew)

The speech made by Monica Harding, the Liberal Democrat MP for Esher and Walton, in the House of Commons on 24 February 2026.

I want to speak about transparency and accountability in public life and how the system we find ourselves in has been maintained and got us to where we are.

In the early noughties, I was working overseas with the British Council, as I have said. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor visited us as part of his role as a UK trade envoy. Before his arrival, senior staff in both the embassy and the British Council were rolling their eyes—his reputation preceded him. I was told that it was a “containment” exercise, that overseas missions feared putting him out there in case he said something inappropriate, that he was arrogant and that he was not on top of his brief. Rather than looking forward to his visits as an opportunity to promote Britain, it was instead thought that he would do damage.

Moreover, there were rumours about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor—that he refused to stay in the ambassador’s residence, that he would only stay in the Four Seasons or similar top-end hotels, and that he took an ironing board with him when he went overseas. That was a euphemism for a massage table. That was all well known among many officials. It even inspired the BBC TV programme “Ambassadors” in 2013, a couple of years after Andrew was forced to relinquish his role as trade envoy.

It seems that this was known about in the diplomatic circles that I experienced way back at the start of the noughties, and yet Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor enjoyed another 10 years as a trade envoy. Yet when I questioned why this was allowed to happen, I was met with a shrug. “Everyone knows,” they said. As I have said, Andrew came to an exhibition I had put on about Dolly the sheep. At the time, it was the pinnacle of British innovation, and we were rightly proud of it as an example of UK scientific excellence. One of my team was a young Japanese woman who worked for the British Government as a member of British Council staff. Her job—we paid her—was to promote the UK. She showed the then prince around with some Japanese dignitaries. “Dolly the sheep,” he sneered, “It’s rubbish. Frankenstein sheep”. My team member was deflated and did not understand why this representative of the British state diminished what she was rightly proud of.

The talk of Andrew and what he was like came to my own dinner table. My late father-in-law, an air vice-marshal in the RAF, was at a dinner with Mountbatten-Windsor on an overseas trip in the 1990s. He said, in front of many foreign military and diplomatic seniors, “No need for a Royal Air Force”. My father-in-law said nothing, and that was the problem. People could not because of his privileged position. My father-in-law raised it with the Chief of the Air Staff and was told it would be raised with the Palace. What happened next? Who knows? Did diplomats raise the concern to their seniors and to the very top from early on? Did the Palace do its own internal investigation? If they did, was it shared with the Department for Business and Trade? Where did these concerns all go? In doing so, did they—the system—unwittingly or wittingly support protection or cover-up, because of “the way things were done” or because of deference? That is the point of this debate. Some officials knew, or the system seemed to know, but the system seemingly failed to do anything about it for 10 years because of privilege and deference.

Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)

On this point about which Departments had which papers, I note that the Humble Address uses the words

“including but not confined to”.

Surely papers in the royal household that relate to this matter should also come under the scope of the Humble Address. Does my hon. Friend agree?

Monica Harding

I agree. There is a systematic and joined-up failure that we need to unravel, and I will come back to that in my speech.

When there was scrutiny after 2011, there was still a failure of oversight. What does that say about our society, how we protect privilege and what we are prepared to accept on behalf of the British state and our representatives? Can rules be broken by some people and not others? Do propriety and ethics belong to all those who represent the British state?

We have a parliamentary monarchy. That means that if the Palace does not open itself to scrutiny and carry out its own inquiry, Parliament must. I have some questions. On what basis was Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor given the role of trade envoy? Who put him forward and was there resistance to it? While he was trade envoy, what concerns were raised and with whom, from what date and how were they actioned? Money was put up by the royal family to protect him. Does Parliament have a right to understand why that money was put up and that public funds were not used in the civil settlement with Virginia Giuffre? Can Parliament find out that not one penny of public money was used in that settlement?

I know you will share with me, Madam Deputy Speaker, the concern about levels of public confidence in all our institutions and the people who represent them. Parliament must assert itself in this regard, and I, along with my colleagues, call for the full publication of all documents related to Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as a special envoy and for an end to negative privilege, so that MPs in this place can speak freely about their concerns and disclose information in the House of Commons, even if that individual is a member of the royal family.

I will end, as I must, with thoughts for the victims of the Epstein scandal, which has triggered so much of this debate, and all those who are victims of power, privilege and deference. They are foremost in our minds as this furore continues. It is thanks to their bravery that we know the extent of Epstein’s crimes and the wider implications for our own establishment.

Wendy Chamberlain

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. I am conscious that she was close to concluding, but her words about the victims are powerful. I co-chair the all-party parliamentary group for the survivors of Fayed and Harrods. We have just started our work, but Members may have heard a powerful interview on the “World at One” a couple of weeks ago, which talked about the lack of acknowledgement of what had taken place and the fact that the police did not properly understand trafficking. The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Alex Burghart), described this as a global enterprise. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to do much more work around this and that it is not just about the victims of Epstein, but other trafficking victims, too?

Monica Harding

My hon. Friend is quite right. This is about systemic failure, and we are at the very beginning of this, not the end. For the victims of Epstein, we must do everything we can to ensure that this investigation and inquiry continue. On behalf of those victims and those who are suffering right now from the same thing, we must ensure that the wider system cleans itself up, and we must facilitate that.

24/02/2026
Rachael Maskell – 2026 Speech on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (former Prince Andrew)

The speech made by Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, in the House of Commons on 24 February 2026.

Unaccountable power must not hide, privilege must not be protected, money must be accounted for and elite networks of men operating here and overseas must meet their reckoning for dehumanising, subjugating, exploiting and sexually assaulting women—women who must have justice. The web of abuse surrounding Mr Epstein and his associates must be brought to book, and Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, as a known associate, must also be held to account for his role as a special trade envoy and for his associations. We have all been revulsed by the stories that we have heard, and that is why today’s debate must also be about the victims and survivors.

I first raised my concern because my constituency carries the name of York and the Duke of York’s ambassadorial associations with our city were causing much concern in my community. I therefore brought those concerns to the House on 21 February 2022, just days after the settlement of the lawsuit to Ms Giuffre, known to be in the region of £12 million. My city—a human rights city, no less—was clearly disturbed, and as a result of that I sought a separation between the title and the city. Later that year, after working closely with the Clerks, I brought forward a Bill to remove the title, but that still has not been done. I brought forward another Bill just last year on the removal of title, this time bringing in the option of removing the title from peerages as well, but I have still not had a positive response.

The reasons I am speaking in this debate today are: first, that in looking into these issues, I realised that the Humble Address was narrow in its scope; and secondly, to ask what we should do with the information once it has been corroborated. Clearly the police investigation must take its course, and I am sure it will be deep and thorough because it runs so far, but ultimately, if we are just looking at the appointment, we must also ask about that period of time when Mr Mountbatten-Windsor carried out the role and the implications to wider networks. I do not want this to end up in the court of public opinion, or perhaps with the media digging deeper and deeper into more and more stories. But what does it do to this place? What does it do to change the way the systems work?

Freddie van Mierlo (Henley and Thame) (LD)

I recognise the work that the hon. Lady has done on titles and holding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to account. She makes a good point about making sure that we do not have a court of public opinion, but I would like to give my thanks to the many media outlets—it does not matter which one you read or what its political slant—that have done tremendous work, trawling through hundreds of thousands of documents. Does she agree that we owe them a debt of gratitude for bringing to light many of the awful things that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is alleged to have been associated with?

Rachael Maskell

I do agree with the hon. Gentleman, because I know that journalists have been up through the night poring over the Epstein files and digging deep to hold power to account. Our media have a vital role in this, and long may it continue. Their scrutiny is also important for this place and the work that we do here.

We need a process of learning from this, and I believe that there should be a judge-led inquiry to ensure that the multiple strands of this global network of power are brought to account so that we can learn and hold to account in this place with regard to concerns about how these associations are formed and the depth to which they infiltrate places like this, the Government and international networks. As we have learned over the last few weeks, sensitive financial information has been shared, and this can impact on our constituencies, markets and trade. That in turn has an impact on the very people we are here to represent.

No longer can these powerful men swan around the world having these conversations, gaining more power and exploiting whoever crosses their path without being held accountable. We therefore need to understand how to create even deeper transparency across all institutions, including all areas of Government, just as we try to do in this place each and every day. As the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) says, this inquiry must be far-reaching and it must pursue all these issues.

I recognise that many Departments have been missed out in the Humble Address. We need to understand, for instance, how transport has been used, and not just civil transport but military transport. We need to see the missing logs to find out who was on those planes, where they were going and where they had come from. We also need to understand the expenses system that ensued and to find out how signing off for massages became a duty of the taxpayer. Individuals questioned this, as we have heard, but the reality is that people did not feel empowered to blow the whistle and raise those concerns. We need to institute processes where people can raise concerns wherever they see them, but at the moment we do not have the confidence that that was undertaken within the systems. How are we going to institute that?

There are also questions about visas—we know that 90 people came in and out of the country during the period that we are looking at today—and of course there must be rigour in appointment processes. Much has been heard about that over the last few months, and it lies at the heart of this Humble Address. We need to ensure that all these appointments are transparent. I heard what the Minister said today, but we have 32 trade envoys and I have never seen one post advertised. I am not aware of the expertise that those individuals have with regard to trade or to their relations with a particular country. What do they actually add? What value do they actually bring, and how can we assess that from this place? I therefore ask for a proper review of all these appointments to assess what they bring, because surely we should have better accountability.

I also want to mention the intelligence services. I cannot believe that our intelligence services were not aware of some of the movements of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor. How do we bring that to account, to ensure that that information is also in the public domain? Where are the minutes of all those meetings? What do they say? How do we find out? There are so many questions in response to the Humble Address being put today, but we have to think about what we want to do from this point on as well. This must not be about just holding and examining the information and commenting in the tea rooms and the corridors; we must ensure that power is held to account, and that those with privilege know that they are answerable for the responsibilities that they hold.

As the light is shone deeper into the darkest networks of the elite’s exploitations, and as the systems are overhauled and reviewed, may the police do their job well and extensively and may we in this place always focus on the women who were exploited, gaslit, traumatised and left broken as we seek justice and seek to hold that power to account.

24/02/2026
Alex Burghart – 2026 Speech on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (former Prince Andrew)

The speech made by Alex Burghart, the Shadow Trade Minister, in the House of Commons on 24 February 2026.

I congratulate the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey) on securing this debate. I should say at the outset that the Conservatives support the motion.

The truth is that the people who helped Jeffrey Epstein by supplying him with contacts and information were the people who enabled him to become powerful. Those people effectively enabled him to build his net of influence, his net of abuse. That network of power, in turn, enabled him to abuse more and more people, so it is quite right that this House is enabled to scrutinise what went on and how it went on.

I listened to the Minister’s remarks. I appreciate the way that he has approached this debate and the way that the Government will constructively co-operate with the terms of the Humble Address. However, this is the second occasion in only a few weeks when the Government have had to be brought here by Opposition parties under the terms of a Humble Address to disclose information that they quite obviously could have disclosed without the need for such an Address in the first place. I acknowledge the humility with which the Minister has approached the debate, but the Government as a whole could have been much more proactive on this issue right from the start. I also appreciate the humble way in which the Minister came to the House and reminded us that he had been right all along.

Chris Bryant

Very humble.

Alex Burghart

Very humble.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats referred to this as the first global political scandal. Indeed, it is a global political scandal whose tendrils have reached into the operation of many Governments across the west and the east. The fact that our allies in Poland have launched an intelligence investigation into Epstein’s links with Russia and that in the published Epstein papers it is clear that Jeffrey Epstein was supplying people at the very top end of Putin’s regime with sensitive information about the American leadership show that this is an international scandal and one in which our Government and our security services must play their part in uncovering things. However, I know that the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton is a lover of history, so I must gently take issue with his claim that this is the first global political scandal. I think of the Dreyfus affair, the XYZ affair and the Panama scandals—there have been many—but this is, to take his substantive point, a global political scandal.

I associate myself with the remarks made by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) that we can only be, as a general point, supportive of the royal family’s role in promoting our country. The people who have witnessed the best of the royal family using their awesome soft power to support what we do best can only be in awe of the vast commitment they make to public service and the life of the country.

Indeed, if it is the case, as reported in the press, that very senior members of the royal family expressed concerns about the appointment of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor in 2001, one can feel only enormous sympathy with them over what has subsequently come to light.

The revelations surrounding the relationship between Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein, like those surrounding the relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein, and the arrest of both men on suspicion of misconduct in public office make it right that questions are asked and information is brought before the House. If one looks back to 2001, it is possible to identify the hand of Epstein in Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment. It is reported that Peter Mandelson first met Epstein in the summer of 2001; Mountbatten-Windsor had, I believe, first met Epstein in 1999. Shortly after Mandelson’s first meeting in October 2001, Mandelson was appointed as trade envoy.

Chris Bryant indicated dissent.

Alex Burghart

The Minister shakes his head, so I will go through the chronology again for him—there is no harm in doing so.

Chris Bryant

You’ve got the names wrong.

Alex Burghart

Well, Hansard will show it—it may be that the numbers were jumbled up in the Minister’s head.

In the summer of 2001, Mandelson met Epstein for the first time; in October 2001, Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed as trade envoy. It is possible that Mandelson influenced that. As I said, Mountbatten-Windsor had met Epstein for the first time in 1999, so he was already an associate of Epstein. I am glad to have sorted that out—I can go through it again, but I am sure the Minister will be able to read about it tomorrow.

Wendy Chamberlain

By sketching out that timeline, the hon. Gentleman brings to light the reason why we are calling in our Humble Address for information about the actual creation of the appointment, which, as the Minister rightly pointed out, was a unique role created for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Does the hon. Gentleman therefore agree that we are right not only to call out the creation of that role, but to ascertain whether Mandelson had any role in it?

Alex Burghart

Very much so. As I say, it would have been better if the Government had been proactive on this and had not had to be brought to the House by Opposition parties in order to release the information. I am very glad, though, that the Liberal Democrats have learned from the Conservatives’ Humble Address a few weeks ago. It is always good that once the Conservatives have designed a bandwagon, got it up and running and shown that it can move at high speed, the Liberal Democrats scramble up and get on board—better late than never.

If we go through the sequencing very carefully, we can see that it is possible that there was influence from Epstein, who, we must acknowledge, had not been arrested or convicted in 2001, although there were already rumours and reports about him, and who was, in any case, a highly influential foreign businessman. If it was under his influence that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed as trade envoy, it would be useful to see what the Prime Minister knew when that appointment was made.

Layla Moran

I think the hon. Gentleman is trying to get to a point that deeply concerns me, which is that we need to understand the extent to which the then Prince Andrew was leaning on government for things he wanted. There is an example of this in the recent Epstein files, which contain an exchange between Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein about how Andrew had written to the Ministry of Defence in order to allow their plane to land at an RAF base in Norfolk on 7 December 2000. Andrew’s influence on government predated his appointment. What we want to understand is the extent to which he was already trying to influence government as a prince and what that led to in his role as trade envoy. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is incredibly important to get to the bottom of that?

Alex Burghart

Yes. I am afraid I do not know what year that—

Layla Moran

2000.

Alex Burghart

Ah, 2000. Well, I agree with the hon. Lady—that is an interesting point. If one looks at the precise wording of the Liberal Democrats’ Humble Address, however, I am not sure that something like that falls within its context. She may wish to table an amendment to her own party’s motion in order to get at that.

Transparency is essential in all this. That is why the Conservatives very much hope that the Government will give us transparency quickly. I turn to the point made by the Father of the House: there is a danger that the Government will use the police process as a means of not disclosing certain information. I say that not because of what the Minister has said today so much as what the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister said yesterday, when, in the context of the Conservatives’ Humble Address, he said:

“I can confirm that those documents will be made available, subject, I am afraid, to the exclusion of one particular item, in which No. 10 asked Peter Mandelson a number of questions. The Met police have asked that to be held back, subject to their investigations…That item will therefore have to be published at a later date, but the documents that are not subject to the Met police investigation will be published very shortly.”—[Official Report, 23 February 2026; Vol. 781, c. 44.]

As the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister) said, I think it would assist the House if the Government could explain why the Met police has asked that that item is held back.

It would also be helpful if the Government could confirm that there is no bar to them handing that document over to the Intelligence and Security Committee—a point on which Mr Speaker has been very clear. On 4 February, Mr Speaker said:

“the Metropolitan police have no jurisdiction over what this House may wish to do. It will be a matter of whether or not the Government provide the information. I want to let Members know that the police cannot dictate to this House.”—[Official Report, 4 February 2026; Vol. 780, c. 375.]

There is a means that was specifically debated during the original Humble Address that enabled Members of this House—that is, the ISC—to be given this information regardless of the police investigation.

Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)

The hon. Gentleman is making a very important point. What concerns me deeply in this matter is the fact that my constituents and members of the public are increasingly concerned that what they see is the tendrils—as the hon. Gentleman referred to—reaching into government through this debate. In the handling of these papers and the release of information, we must at all times be aware of the reputational impact not just on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor or Lord Mandelson but on us in this place, as well as on previous and subsequent Governments and Parliaments. Would he agree?

Alex Burghart

Very much so. I know that certain hon. Members across the House will be aware of just how bad it will look if the Government do not provide information as swiftly as possible.

I will give an example of where that is not happening. When we debated the original Humble Address—nearly two weeks ago now—I raised the fact that the Prime Minister had an unrecorded meeting with Palantir in Washington in February last year. He was accompanied on that visit, which did not appear in his register of meetings, by Peter Mandelson. Palantir was a client of the company in which Peter Mandelson held a commanding share. Later that year, Palantir subsequently received by direct award a very substantial contract from Government worth about £240 million.

When I raised this in the House, there was concern on both sides—it was a cross-party issue. I asked the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office to confirm that the Cabinet Secretary, whoever that turned out to be, would investigate what looks like a clear case of conflict of interest, and he agreed to write to me. I still have not received any reply, despite the fact that I brought it up again at the Dispatch Box at the start of this week and was assured that I would receive a response.

I just do not think this is good enough. It is very important that the Opposition can hold the Government to account in a meaningful way. To the point made by the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine), I think it is extremely important that the Government should be seen to be willingly providing information, rather than having to be pushed every step of the way to do the right thing.

I will make one additional point on this score. While we do very much support the Humble Address being debated today, I ask the Government to be clear that nothing in it—nothing at all—will slow down the process of delivering on the original Humble Address. While there is historic and contemporary interest in what happened in 2001, what this Government did in choosing to appoint Peter Mandelson, despite the information they had at their disposal, is of paramount importance. They must come clean, and come clean quickly. As Buckingham Palace said the other day, no one is above the law.

24/02/2026