Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hello, we've got a little bit of a change of plan on Newscast. You will later on hear the latest episode of Electioncast, where we'll be digging into the campaign for the Scottish Parliament elections.
But before that, we're going to do a little bit of breaking news, because in between recording the last episode of Newscast and this one, there's been quite a few developments in the Lord Mandelson vetting story, which was broken by The Guardian on Thursday afternoon. Sir Ollie Robbins, Sir Oliver Robbins, has left the Foreign Office.
He was the most senior civil servant, and he is the person who reportedly overruled the findings of Lord Mandelson's vetting to allow him to be appointed as the ambassador to Washington DC.
And all of this has provoked this response from the Prime Minister, who was in Paris for a meeting of other countries who are trying to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but which has been sort of diverted a bit by this story. That I wasn't told... that Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting when he's appointed is staggering.
That I wasn't told that he'd failed security vetting when I was telling Parliament that due process had been followed is unforgivable. Not only was I not told, no minister was told. And I'm absolutely furious about that. What I intend to do is to go to Parliament on Monday to set out all the relevant facts in true transparency, so Parliament has the full picture.
So, a very angry Keir Starmer there. Coming your way shortly, an episode of ElectionCast. But before that, we will get Chris's analysis of what's been going on in the last 24 hours in the news, in this episode of Newscast. Newscast.
Newscast from the BBC.
Humanity's next great voyage begins. We are in the midst of a rupture.
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Chapter 2: What happened with Lord Mandelson's security vetting?
This story had emerged in The Guardian about Peter Mandelson's security vetting apparently being overruled by the Foreign Office. I went home and ended my day. Your day was just beginning. It was really. Yeah, it was. So we just did a whole thing.
I may have mentioned at the last episode, we just did a whole thing where we'd, you know, we'd spoken to all of the opposition parties and they'd all reacted to the fact that Downing Street wasn't saying anything and blah, blah, blah. And then at five to six, they did say something. And so then we spoke to them all again and started afresh.
And then no sooner had I done the 10 o'clock news and I was heading home and Then it turns out that Sir Ollie Robbins, he of the Foreign Office and the most senior job, or at least he was this time yesterday, is no longer because he is out on his ear courtesy of this whole this whole row. So another another casualty of this whole Peter Mandelson saga.
And so this was Ollie Robbins, Sir Oliver Robbins, who to long-time listeners of Brexitcast will remember him as Theresa May's main Brexit man. And then he went into the private sector for a bit and then was brought back to sort of transform the Foreign Office as his most senior civil servant. When you talk to people in and around Number 10, what tale do they tell about why he had to go?
Well, they say that they were kind of gobsmacked and furious that they didn't find out about what he knew. And so basically their contention is that was a massive failure on the part of the Foreign Office in general, but him as the figurehead in the civil service in the Foreign Office in general.
because why on earth, so goes the argument from Downing Street, would you not tell the Prime Minister so consequential a piece of information or set of pieces of information around the appointment of someone to such a high-profile role?
Now, I think what's interesting, Adam, as we record on Friday afternoon, is that there are friends of Ollie Robbins, not least a professor called Kieran Martin,
who has worked in the bowels of government and understands vetting procedures, but also the handling of this kind of stuff, who makes the argument that not only, in his view, did Ollie Robbins not act badly, he acted exactly how he should do in that role because the protocol is that this kind of stuff is incredibly sensitive because this kind of vetting, and I've spoken to various people today who've been through this kind of vetting,
It is incredibly invasive about your life. And there's a recognition that it is that because it has to be that. But this sort of stuff shouldn't be sort of sprayed around on the, you know, the office WhatsApp group or whatever. I say that to be facetious. Or passed on to the prime minister in this case. Yeah, exactly. So the argument is it doesn't get passed on. Now, what intrigues me is...
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Chapter 3: How did the Prime Minister react to the Mandelson situation?
Then maybe the amber is the kind of... There's one or two things that you're going to have to mitigate or you're going to have to sell those shares or whatever it might be, and then you're okay. And then there's a no. And in Lord Mandelson's case, it was a no. Right. So there's two things there. There's the actual...
result of the vetting and whether Ollie Robbins overruled that, or it was a more nuanced thing than that, which is what friends of Ollie Robbins like Kieran Martin are saying. And then there's the whole passing on the result of the vetting to ministers like the foreign secretary at the time, David Lambe, or the prime minister.
So there's sort of two strands of argument from friends of Ollie Robbins there. Yeah, completely. And we may get, at the beginning of next week, we may get a sense or a greater sense of, well, these arguments playing out in public, because the Prime Minister will be in the Commons on Monday talking about all of this.
And Ollie Robbins has been invited in front of the cross-party Foreign Affairs Select Committee that scrutinises the Foreign Office on Tuesday. or accepts that particular invitation, let's see. My understanding is that he is still on the payroll. He is still, this weekend, a civil servant. He's no longer running the Foreign Office.
He is still a civil servant because you've got to go through the kind of necessary protocols around somebody departing. And even looking at the conventions around this, even if he wasn't, given that he has been until very recently... that the convention would be a committee could still say, look, you need to come and talk to us.
And it may well be, and I'm speculating when I say this, but it very well may be that he wants to come out and talk, particularly given that at the moment there's a huge amount of folk, you and me among them right now, you know, talking about him and his views.
job and what he's meant to do and what he's not meant to do etc etc etc and i i suspect if you put yourself in his shoes you might think i want to get out there and tell my side of the story particularly if you feel aggrieved as his friend kieran martin suggests he does about what's happened so chris that's what could happen next in public what's happening in private in terms of how people are reacting to this
Well, Downing Street's furious. The Foreign Secretary is furious. I think on a human level, they're furious because, both of them, because they feel let down. I think from the Foreign Secretary's perspective, she was a joint signatory alongside Ollie Robbins to a letter to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee last autumn that we now know didn't set out anywhere near as much as
The Foreign Office collectively knew. So I think there's a sense of being let down there. As I said, the prime minister feels that as well. And then there's the politics around all of this, which is that if you are the prime minister and you are looking at a big set of elections around Great Britain, two weeks on Thursday and postal votes landing on people's doormats from now on.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of the Mandelson vetting failure?
No, well... Help me and a fellow newscaster who might have a splash of amnesia. Very smoothly done. This is the trademark newscast election gimmick where you tell us why you might need a postal vote or a proxy vote on the 7th of May. And it's an amazing picture of the amazing things that newscasters do in their lives.
For example, newscaster Harry, who says, I will be a remote voter for the upcoming local election as I will be representing Great Britain at the Etchells Sailing World Championships in San Diego. My girlfriend, who's also a huge newscast fan, will be proxy voting on my behalf. Oh, and here's the bit for you, Chris. P.S. We will be voting for the Westminster Council.
So if Chris ever needs a break from Parliament, he's welcome to pop in for a coffee. I love the idea of remote voting in San Diego. A break. I went on a trip with Richie Sunak when he was Prime Minister to San Diego when they were talking about the AUKUS Defence Alliance with Australia and America. And yeah, I got badly sunburned.
I remember that. Have we got a newscaster on Centellina?
I'm not sure how many people are there. But there are some, aren't there? Yeah, so we could do. I mean, the net is infinite.
Yeah.
Yeah. Now, whether you'd be there and also in possession of a postal box, I mean, you might be. But anyway, I'm just curious. I'm always fascinated about where our waffle ends up. Hence why this is such a good gimmick that I invented all those years ago. I was so memorable that I knew instantly what it was. What it was, exactly. It defies definition.
And then we also, back to business, we also had this voice note. Hi Adam and team at Election Cast. I'm Craig Beaumont and I'm a remote voter for the 7th of May. I've worked out I'll be separated from my local ballot box by 9,700 kilometres at Hirahunomori in Shubu Sanguku National Park, which is Japan's northern Alps.
I'll likely be in a nonsen, which is a natural hot spring with volcanic mineral rich water.
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Chapter 5: What are the main issues in the Scottish Parliament elections?
We should probably help all those politicians facing carnage on the morning of 8th of May to get a bit of health and meditative effects of the water. But thanks very much. Keep up the good work. Cheers. Bye. That is brilliant, Craig. I love that. And now I can tell another anecdote about travelling with the Prime Minister, because I went for my tea in Tokyo with Keir Starmer a few weeks ago.
We were only in Japan for five hours. We'd spent a few days in China, and then he wanted to drop in on the Japanese Prime Minister just before her general election. And we landed at about five in the evening and left at about half ten at night. Hardly any time for any sushi. There was no natural hot springs for me. No onsen for Chris Mason. No. Well, that's great, Craig. I love that.
It was a great picture painting as well. I like that. Yes. Good luck to all newscasters who are not near the ballot box on Thursday, whatever they're doing, whether it's near or far. Chris, I'm going to let you go. Ta-ra. Goodbye.
And as promised, here is your weekly helping of ElectionCast, where we look at the campaigns for the English local authorities, the Welsh Senate and the Scottish Parliament. And this week, me and the gang are zooming in on the Scottish Parliament. And we recorded this bit of this episode of Newscast, which is actually ElectionCast, on Thursday afternoon.
Do you remember when we exchanged marks for euros and everyone counted six times? I remember, there's plenty of time for that. Do you remember because this terrace has been dealt with last? How old do you think I am? Saletisti onnistuu! Saletisti onnistuu!
Hello, it's Adam in the newscast slash election cast studio. Hello, it's James in Glasgow.
Hello, it's Alex in her makeshift home election car studio.
And as always, we're joined by Luke Trill, pollster and boss of More In Common. Hello. Great to be here. And you've got your own podcast now, haven't you? We do, The Opinion Brief. Right, okay. That's the advertising out of the way. Will you be reading adverts in your podcast like the American podcasters do? I'd actually really like to do that. Talk about AI chatbots and mattresses and things?
Sounds all about crypto or something like that.
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