Emily Thornberry

You know, and then and then Mandelton goes and fails vetting and it would have been humiliating for everybody.

But better that than what happened in the end.

It wasn't clear that it was Keir Starmer who'd recommended him for it.

It was the private office at Number 10 getting in touch with Sir Ollie Robbins' office, private office, and saying, can you get him an ambassadorial job?

I mean, it was shocking.

And I think it speaks to an arrogance that is very concerning.

People should not...

Well, that's the question.

You know, that's the question.

I mean, I would have thought that it's probably, again, head of office.

But, you know, I mean, I just when it came to appointments, I've always been struck by how disinterested, actually, the prime minister has been.

And it does seem to have been the head of his office who was largely responsible for an awful lot of appointments, whether that was, you know, politicians to political jobs or,

or these sorts of things.

It seemed to be the engine behind it seemed to be the head of his office, Morgan McSweeney, rather than the PM.

Some people will criticise that.

But, you know, I mean, I suppose the only thing you can say is that there is an awful lot that the prime minister has to do and has to be on top of.

And it's surprising because most prime ministers would hold that to themselves because that's the way in which you can influence people and make sure that they're loyal to you.

Because, you know, if you got your job through the prime minister and you know that you did, you remain loyal to him.

If you give that job to someone else, then you end up with loyalty going to the person whose job it is to be responsible for appointments, right?

I think this is trouble.