Andrew Defty

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.

Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address - Hansard - UK Parliament Hansard record of the item : 'Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address Motion' on Thursday 12 February 2026.

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 man is sitting at a desk with a computer and a ball on it ALT: a man is sitting at a desk with a computer and a ball on it

I worry this may be offset by all the banging the head on the desk in frustration.

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.”

Universities told to report foreign interference on campus to MI5 Ministers say UK universities have become a

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.

ISC also being quite clever here - by getting government to mark which parts of the papers are prejudicial to national security, if ISC then produces a report which does not reveal those 'words, phrase or sentences' the government would struggle to legally block the publication of a report.

The ISC has published its letter to the PM regarding how it will handle the Mandelson papers. It is a carefully worded and fascinating document not least because the ISC has a statutory relationship with the executive but has unusually been asked to carry out a job by Parliament.

The involvement of the Intelligence and Security Committee in the Mandelson affair further reinforces the argument that the ISC should move out of the Cabinet Office. This from the ISC Chair in May 2025.

Clever move this from ISC Deputy Chair, Jeremy Wright, leveraging additional resources for the committee to enable it to review the Mandelson material.

When I was writing about Labour’s prolific use of the humble address in opposition day debates during the last Parliament I remember thinking that when they’re in government they better be ready because the Tories are going to use the same tactic against them. Were they ready? It seems not.

NEW: Govt has updated own amendment to allow ISC to vet Mandelson docs after Labour MPs warned they would vote down attempts to limit disclosures about appointment as ambassador.

Tories will back a/ment taking some immediate peril away from Starmer.

🚨 NEW: The Government is set to back down and allow the Intelligence Security Committee to oversee the release of the Peter Mandelson's vetting documents

It follows a major backlash from Labour MPs, including Angela Rayner

🚨 BREAKING: Angela Rayner calls for Keir Starmer to allow the Intelligence and Security Committee to oversee the publication of Peter Mandelson's vetting documents

It comes after PMQs reportedly made more Labour MPs oppose Keir Starmer’s "national security" amendment

More on Labour's extensive use of the humble address when in Opposition here: psaparliaments.org/2018/05/04/w...

Labour’s ‘motion for a return’: what and why? Opposition days have become a source of controversy in the early months of the 2017 parliament, with government MPs repeatedly abstaining on Labour motions. Such motions are usually non-binding. Ho…

Conservatives have tabled a humble address today seeking access to papers on Lord Mandelson. A reminder that the humble address is not an ancient piece of parliamentary procedure. It was used 20 times by Labour between 2017 and 2024 see my explainer here: constitution-unit.com/2017/11/10/l...

The Fascism of Donald Trump. I thought this piece was pushing it a bit when I wrote it back in August. Now I don't. journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....

What art should I hang in my embassy? Top ambassadors reveal their soft power secrets Diplomats have been tactfully hanging masterpieces for centuries — collectors should take note

Very much enjoyed Christian House’s piece in the FT this weekend about art and diplomacy #ArtofSpying - www.ft.com/content/ad73...

Read this thread for the lived experience of what it's like in almost all UK universities now - just an internal implosion. Organisationally, morally, in terms of capacity and morale.

I have a short comment piece on the need for a more joined-up approach to intelligence oversight in Baltic Rim Economies special issue on intelligence and foresight. There are also some great pieces by others in there which are really worth reading www.centrumbalticum.org/en/publicati...

The stunning art trove hidden in a D.C. building marked by Trump for disposal Packed with frescoes, paintings and reliefs, the federal government’s Cohen Building has been called “the Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.” Advocates fear these works could be at risk.

VOA's headquarters, 'the Sistine Chapel of the New Deal,' faces possible destruction as part of the Trump administration's drive for "maximum value for the federal real estate footprint." wapo.st/4a5NCsq

We really can’t be sure he knows any of those things.

Austria's biggest spy trial for decades puts ex-intelligence officer in the dock Egisto Ott, 63, denies charges of handing over information to Russian agents.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Minor point re. operation of the ISC. ISC has not usually named a Deputy Chair but appointment of a member of House of Lords as the ISC Chair means Deputy Chair needed in order to speak for the committee in the Commons. From Tuesday’s Commons debate on Chinese Embassy:

Intelligence and Security Committee statement on the Chinese Embassy. ISC is content that security implications can be mitigated, but raises broader concerns about lack of clarity regarding how national security considerations feed into planning isc.independent.gov.uk

You're in serious denial if you think the one accurate statement in a speech littered with lies and spurious nonsense is that the US is not planning to take Greenland by force.