Mandelson, May Elections & Rosie Jones Mayhem
4/23/20261 hr 10 min
British politics was shaken to its core this week when we all realised that, maybe, Keir Starmer isn’t as quite across the detail as he tries to make out. He had to explain exactly what he did and didn’t know about the developed vetting carried out for Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s Ambassador to the US.
Right on the heels of that, came Olly Robbins, who was sacked last week from his role as the chief official at the Foreign Office. In a very civil servant way, he revealed the internal pressures and machinations that were happening during the appointment process.
Both men had serious questions to answer about what they did but Coco and Nish are joined by political journalist Zoë Grünewald to ask why everyone is obsessing over the process while almost totally ignoring the larger, moral decision to make the appointment in the first place.
Plus the comedian Rosie Jones arrives to totally derail the whole podcast with a mix of funny jabs at Nish while still telling us about the work of her brilliant foundation which is celebrating its first birthday!
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**Warning: use of a racial slur during the Labour May election segment**
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GUESTS
Zoë Grünewald - Journalist, broadcaster and political commentator
Rosie Jones - Comedian
USEFUL LINKS
The Rosie Jones Foundation: https://www.rosiejonesfoundation.com/
CREDITS
Sir Keir Starmer MP - Parliament TV
Emily Thornberry MP - The Mirror, YouTube
Sir Oliver Robbins - Parliament TV
David Miliband MP - Mornings with Ridge and Frost, Sky News
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsNish Kumar· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hi, this is Ponce of the UK. I'm Nish Kumar.
Coco Khan· Host0:03
And I'm Coco Khan.
Nish Kumar· Host0:04
It was the battle of the two political big beasts this week. In the red corner, Sir Keir Starmer, prime minister and fan of following the correct process. In the blue corner, Sir Olly Robbins, the recently sacked permanent undersecretary to the foreign office.
Coco Khan· Host0:17
Both had to face questions over the Mandelson vetting process, confirming what they knew and when they knew it. Zoe Gruenwald is here to give us the scoop on the row that could bring down a PM.
Nish Kumar· Host0:27
And the comedian Rosie Jones is coming to disrupt proceedings and to drain any sense of authority I still have as the host of this podcast. Can't wait. [upbeat music] So we've now heard in long, sometimes torturous detail from Keir Starmer and Olly Robbins about their parts in the vetting process for Peter Mandelson's appointment as a very short-term UK ambassador to the US.
Coco Khan· Host0:53
So a lot hinges on due process, so established precedent and the inner workings of Whitehall. So we're asking our political big-brained friend, Zoe Gruenwald, the journalist and podcaster, to join us to discuss it all. Let's work through this in order. So first up, we have Keir Starmer. Now, we're all used to hearing rubbish puns and terrible jokes from the Commons, but this statement from Starmer got a proper laugh.
Keir Starmer· Soundbite1:17
Mr. Speaker, I know many members across the house will find these facts to be incredible. [laughs] To