John Benton

This alone should be instant dismissal for any PM Starmer’s cooking pot boils over at speaker

@YossiBenYakar Totally..

British MP Sarah Pochin has triggered massive outrage from the Muslim community after calling to shut down all Islamic Sharia courts in the UK. She stated clearly: “Sharia law has no place in Britain.” Do you agree with her? Yes or No?

@jensen1966 @BethRigby @adamboultonTABB

@BethRigby @adamboultonTABB Great that Robbins is still going in front of Committee. In the States that probably wouldn’t happen.. Badenoch should be careful accusing the PM of lying until she has heard all the facts. Very school girl bully style.

ANALYSIS: So many questions PM near apoplectic on Friday as he insisted he was not told Peter Mandelson's security vetting had failed.  He insisted, repeatedly, that neither he nor other ministers had been informed about the vetting process and said he would present the full facts to parliament on Monday amid mounting calls for him to resign.  Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition, has accused the PM of lying to save his job.  The stage is then set for an almighty clash - when the prime minister comes to parliament to persuade doubting MPs that he really was kept in the dark and he did not mislead parliament - as his opponents look to finish him off. Key to Starmer's defence on Monday will behe wasn't made aware of the details of Mandelson's vetting.  The central claim from No 10, repeated by the PM's chief secretary Darren Jones this morning, is that Starmer was only made aware on Tuesday night that Lord Mandelson had been granted security clearance against the recommendation of UK security vetting.  Foreign Office has Olly Robbins has been sacked over, as No 10 lays blame at that department's door. I was told the PM had been asking Whitehall questions about vetting for months, given he was being asked to give statements to parliament and this information was not shared. What this suggests is the Foreign Office withheld this information from the PM, which I find simply astonishing and shocking.  Overnight, I've spoken to a couple of former senior civil servants who have told me they find it impossible to believe Robbins would not have flagged this information to the PM and taken the decision to override vetting without consulting or informing any minister.  One former senior mandarin, casting around for a possible explanation, told me "failing" security vetting comes in different grades: "If it's complicated vetting, and the subject lives overseas, it might be that security services can't give a bright green light, but they can come and do the job but can't see top level papers, so the system can bend a bit." But this figure was equally clear that if Lord Mandelson failed vetting, then the explanation from government - that neither the PM nor his advisers, or it emerges the foreign secretary, were told - "makes no sense".  “The very first thing a permanent secretary would do is share that with their political masters," said a former civil servant.  Another told me last night as Robbins was sacked that it was "awful treatment of a very good public servant".  We are yet to hear from Robbins. Chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Emily Thornberry, has asked for the former permanent secretary of the Foreign Office to appear before her committee on Tuesday. The key question for Starmer now is if he misled the House of Commons and is in contempt of parliament… full piece below 👇 #liveblog-body" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">news.sky.com/story/politics…

@MattHarperUK @BethRigby

@BethRigby Oh, please, @BethRigby Could you be so kind as to square the circle for us, as it is inconceivable that Starmer didn't know Mandelson had failed security vetting? We know, you know, he knows we all know, he's LYING AGAIN. independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…

@SkyNews What a waste of time and money..Trump has already done it you pair of clowns

BREAKING: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has arrived in Paris to co-host talks with Emmanuel Macron on reopening the Strait of Hormuz trib.al/Rx0iR33 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube

🚨 NEW: No 10 sources say Keir Starmer is "absolutely furious" tonight

@AphraBrandreth @CommonsForeign

At a @CommonsForeign session in November 2025, I directly asked Sir Oliver Robbins whether the FCDO had a different view of who should be recommended for the posting of US Ambassador. His response? "It was clear that the Prime Minister wanted to make this appointment himself."

@tom_watson Are you really that STUPID Tom?

He is many things but Keir Starmer is not a liar.

@Rod__Mason @PippaCrerar @andrew_lilico FOR A JOB AS IMPORTANT AS THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE ASKED...

@PippaCrerar @andrew_lilico But the Prime Minister insists that the Foreign Office knew Mandelson failed the vetting, just didn’t tell him. Now the Foreign Secretary says her own office didn’t tell her either? Someone’s definitely lying, or they all are. 🤥

NEW: Yvette Cooper and her office only became aware that Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting when approached by the Guardian on Thursday, I’m told. The foreign secretary then spent evening in FCDO and Downing Street with the PM where she spoke to Sir Olly Robbins. They concluded he could no longer continue in post. It means that Cooper, Lammy, McSweeney, Mandelson and the PM himself all now saying they had no clue.

@PippaCrerar Utter bollocks..

They should both resign!! #Mandelson #StarmerMustResign

Another one under the bus… Starmer sacks Foreign Office chief over Mandelson vetting scandal telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/1…

It isn’t remotely credible to believe that neither Starmer nor any Minister knew Mandelson had failed the vetting process. Knowing civil servants as I do, they are extremely cautious, conscientious individuals who would have rushed to the Minister to tell them & certainly would have told the Minister to correct the record. The idea that not one civil servant told one government Minister is frankly preposterous and Starmer is taking the public for fools.

Working for Keir Starmer is now one of the most dangerous occupations in the UK. There are few known survivors. Olly Robbins is just the latest fatality. All sacrificed to divert from a reality we can all see -our country deserves so much better than this man as our Prime Minister.

This Mandelson vetting story isn't just about the Prime Minister's judgement or honesty. This is about a HUGE national security breach. The UK ambassador to the US undergoes high level vetting because he/she has access to our most vital defence, security and economic state secrets. These state secrets were handed to Mandelson, a man who was a proven liar with dodgy foreign billionaire friends who is now under police investigation over claims he leaked confidential govt information to one of those friends. Keir Starmer put our national security at risk. That's not just a resigning matter, it should be a criminal matter.

@LBC @NickFerrariLBC Another liar from Labour,they will be battered in the local elections totally unfit to govern..

‘So you don’t know why he failed the vetting?’ ‘…I haven’t seen the documents.’ @NickFerrariLBC grills Chief Secretary to the PM Darren Jones on the latest Peter Mandelson fiasco.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not mislead Parliament over Lord Mandelson vetting and will not quit, senior minister tells BBC - follow live bbc.in/3Oxht57