“Lord Mandelson helped secure the job of UK trade envoy for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor against the wishes of the King. The then Prince Charles expressed concerns about his brother’s suitability for the role, but the late Queen Elizabeth II overruled him with backing from the former trade secretary. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor succeeded the Duke of Kent, his second cousin, as special representative for international trade and investment in 2001. The move was highly controversial because the former prince already had a reputation for using his status to travel the world playing golf and was considered an unreliable playboy by many critics. One newspaper headline at the time described the appointment as “another royal accident waiting to happen”. Lord Mandelson, though, intervened, saying the then duke was “well qualified” for the role. The two men knew each other by then, having both worked on an NSPCC campaign. Both of them also knew Ghislaine Maxwell and were friends with Evelyn de Rothschild, the City financier, and his wife Lynn, who in turn were friends with Epstein. Maxwell, who is serving a jail sentence for child sex trafficking for Epstein, was photographed with Mr Mountbatten-Windsor at a “hookers and pimps” Halloween party in New York before he was given the trade role. She was also friends with Lord Mandelson, who had worked as a consultant for her father Robert, the one time owner of the Daily Mirror.” – Daily Telegraph
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> Yesterday:
“A dramatic late intervention by a judge has thrown Sir Keir Starmer’s beleaguered plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius further into chaos. Justice James Lewis ruled from a flight at around 25,000ft in the air on Thursday to temporarily block an order removing the islanders, who had landed earlier this week. The decision adds to the prime minister’s growing nightmare over the islands after US president Donald Trump declared this week that he was opposed to the deal in a move which could veto Sir Keir’s plans. The judgment comes after four Chagos islanders landed on one of the Indian Ocean archipelago’s islands on Tuesday to establish what they say will be a permanent settlement, in a move they hope will complicate a British plan to transfer the territory to Mauritius. The “advance party” was led by Misley Mandarin, the elected Chagossian first minister who has pledged to establish a permanent resettlement on Île du Coin, part of the coral atoll of Peros Banhos. “We, the people of the Chagos Islands, stand today on the soil of our homeland,” the party announced in a “Declaration of Return”, adding: “We are the advance party. Hundreds more are following. We have come home.”” – The Independent
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> Today:
“Migrant households have pocketed more than £15billion in benefits in just 18 months, according to a new study. Homes containing at least one unemployed foreign national accounted for 70 per cent of that staggering bill, the research suggests. The Centre for Migration Control think tank, which obtained the data, claimed hardworking Brits are being “walloped with tax rises” to fund billions in welfare handed to households with foreign-born claimants. Its research director Robert Bates said: “t is a no-brainer that we should be ending benefit payments to foreign nationals, especially those who are unemployed.” The FOI documents show £9.5bn of Universal Credit was paid out in 2024, with another £5.6bn in the first half of 2025. But the figures are household-level, meaning some of the cash can go to British partners or children, and that some foreign-national claimants listed as unemployed may actually be self-employed with low or irregular earnings. Of the 2024 total, £6.7bn went to households where the foreign-national claimant was not in work. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has pledged that migrants will only qualify for benefits and social housing once they become British citizens, while the Tories and Reform UK want even tougher limits.” – The Sun
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