This is astonishing - none of the first batch of documents provided to the ISC related to Mandelson’s vetting and the first two documents relating to vetting were only provided to the committee on Monday of this week.
The Intelligence & Security Committee has published a bscathing update on its review of the Mandelson papers. This is a significant task for which the ISC had had to set aside other work but government has yet to provide the documents it promised to get to the committee by 10 April.
Just out of an emergency @uculincolnbranch.bsky.social meeting - large turnout despite many members being on leave reflects deep concern about latest voluntary severance scheme, announced on Monday, and what may follow. Widely expressed lack of confidence in senior management.
A great permanent job at the University of Glasgow:
Lecturer in the History of Intelligence and International Relations, post-1850
First day of Easter break the latest voluntary redundancy scheme announced at the University of Lincoln. Includes ‘one-time’ offer of enhanced pay-off for longer serving staff. Always nice to be wanted. It’s sickening.
I have v. much enjoyed Andrew Graham-Dixon’s life of Vermeer. It is a beautiful book and an extraordinary piece of research. On the one hand he has constructed a life seemingly from almost nothing, on the other, in unpicking Vermeer’s exquisite work, he has drawn on the most richly textured sources.
Parliament's Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy calls for an immediate ban on cryptocurrency donations to political parties & a new central police unit for Political Finance Enforcement.
committees.parliament.uk/committee/11...
#AntiCorruption #UKPolitics
The #Mandelson papers released today included just one which had been reviewed by the Intelligence and Security Committee. This is not going to be a quick process.
The Speaker has announced the resignation of the Clerk of the Commons, Tom Goldsmith, with a successor to be identified by summer recess. So, it's a good time to read @marcgeddes.uk & me on the challenges of this job and the chaotic recruitment process in 2014 🙌 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Doing some comparative work on parliaments but finding I can’t access a number of parliamentary websites I’ve used previously including Mexico, Romania, Israel. It could be routine maintenance but wondering if they’re increasing security settings to counter possible cyber attacks. 🤷♂️
Proud of our School of Social & Political Sciences students who took part in the BISA/FCDO NATO simulation joining peers from 31 UK universities + France & Canada. Representing Spain, they tackled security on NATO’s eastern flank. Thanks to @adefty.bsky.social for supporting. @mybisa.bsky.social
Very significant clarification today from the ISC regarding handling of the Mandelson papers. After some discussion the government has agreed that the decision about whether material referred to the ISC should be published will be taken by the ISC alone.
Proud to take another group of University of Lincoln politics and international relations students to participate in #BISAFCDOmodelNATO in the grandest of settings- the Locarno Suite at the Foreign Office.
For the last two years I’ve been finding & sharing artworks relating to intelligence. Today I bring you “Budanov and the Magical Frog” (2024) by Ukrainian artist Yevgenia Gapchinska. It depicts Kyrylo Budanov then head of Ukrainian military intelligence #ArtofSpying #SlavaUkraini
Today’s opposition day humble address. This time from the Liberal Democrats, asking for papers in relation to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as a trade envoy. Although directed at the Government, the nature of the humble address means if passed this address will be presented to the King.
Current reading.
The workload facing MPs and their staff is growing, in ways that aren't visible to the public: casework and the inbox.
For @thehousemag.bsky.social, I delved into what the workload looks like, why it's growing, and what this means for how MPs can balance the different aspects of their role
For the avoidance of doubt, of which there appears to be some.
Interesting comment from former ISC member, Mark Pritchard, about the need to make the committee more independent from the Cabinet Office. Although he’s wrong about the Chair - appointed by the committee not the PM, which he must know.
Urgent Question in Commons today about government response to Mandelson humble address. Interesting but - it’s not urgent, previous government took a lot longer to respond to humble addresses, and includes quite a lot of whataboutery: hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026...
Zelensky really has little incentive to bend to Trump--the US has stopped supporting his country so it shouldn't have much leverage.
👀
A reminder of last week’s humble address. All papers in the motion must be released, either to Parliament or the ISC. Worth noting: there is no third category of papers which the government decides can’t be released to the ISC; motion doesn’t say what the ISC is to do with the papers.
Latest statement from the ISC in relation to the Mandelson papers - outlines the process. The committee met representatives of the Cabinet Office and FCDO yesterday. The Cabinet Secretary was due to attend “but was unavailable at the last minute.”
Looking forward to the online training module on how to spot Chinese espionage www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Worth bearing in mind the ISC has been asked by Parliament to look at the Mandelson papers and must do so, but there are legitimate questions about whether this is what the ISC is for. I am reminded of this paragraph from the ISC’s first report in May 1995.
