HRH The Princess of Devon

My aim in court was to reclaim power for the elected MPs, and therefore the people, from the unelected bureaucrats - I failed. We now have the scandalous situation in which unqualified and unelected civil servants can wield parliamentary privilege to literally place themselves above the law. They now hold a special legal status which means they cannot be challenged in court - positioned even higher than MPs for whom the system was actually designed. Parliamentary privilege, an ancient right, exists so that MPs can speak without fear in the chamber, it does not exist to give faceless bureaucrats legal immunity. I wanted to challenge the system in an open and fair court, with ruthless transparency so that the British people could finally see the truth. Our judiciary has not allowed that to happen, enabling unelected civil servants to weaponise parliamentary privilege, designed for MPs, to entirely avoid scrutiny and fair legal challenge. Jacob Rees-Mogg, former Leader of the House of Commons, previously commented on the case. “Thus if Lowe wins, he will not have harmed Parliament, but defended it. For through cowardice we – and I was an MP at the time – abdicated our privileged responsibility and gave it to unelected boffins, who are not so much better than elected politicians after all, but much harder to eject.” A fair summary, yet here we are. I have come to the brutal conclusion that the only way to restore Britain is to win the next general election. That is our last available route out. Restore Britain is the only chance our country has.

The Cabinet Office has been accused by the Intelligence and Security Committee of making too many redactions to the Lord Mandelson files It's clear the committee is furious with the way the government is conducting itself, effectively accusing it of censorship and putting national security at risk *** The ISC says that it is applying the 'personal information' criteria 'far too broadly' and without any scrutiny. 'We note that no body has been commissioned to review these redactions and assure Parliament they are within the spirit of the Humble Address' *** It also accuses the Cabinet Office of withholding documents, including Mandelson's vetting file. While the ISC does not wish to see the vetting file - indeed it privately accepts that doing so would undermine the vetting system - it says the Government needs to return to Parliament and seek its agreement for withholding documents *** The ISC says that the level of government business conducted on WhatsApp is 'extraordinary'. 'Lengthy Whatsapp conversations between senior officials and ministers appear now to be the format by which Government policy is formulated' *** It says government departments - the FCDO in particular - are failing to keep proper records - agendas, minutes and records of conversations. 'This is unacceptable in government' *** Sensitive exchanges are being conducted on 'lower level' security systems, putting the UK's national security at risk. The ISC says it is 'appalling'