Gerry Adams was leader of IRA, ex-police officers tell high court

Gerry Adams was the leader of the Irish Republican Army, two former police officers have told the high court.The former Sinn Féin leader is being sued for symbolic “vindicatory” damages of £1 each by John Clark, Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock, who allege he was culpable for three separate IRA bombings in which they were injured.Adams denies ever having been a member of the IRA or having sat on its army council.On Thursday, however, Tim Hanley, a retired detective for the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and a former RUC special branch intelligence officer anonymised as “witness B”, gave evidence that Adams had led the proscribed organisation.Hanley said in his written witness statement: “There is no question in my mind that Adams was the leader of the PIRA [Provisional IRA]; that’s what all the intelligence concluded

Starmer: It was my mistake appointing Mandelson – as it happened

Keir Starmer has told reporters in Northern Ireland that “it was me that made the mistake” in appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador “and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein”.It is the prime minister’s first comments on Mandelson since the release of the files relating to his appointment yesterday afternoon.He said:double quotation markThe release of the information shows what was known. That led to further questions being asked.Unfortunately, because of the Metropolitan police investigation, we can’t release that information yet

No 10 rejects claims it covered up Starmer’s role in Mandelson appointment

Downing Street has rejected accusations it covered up Keir Starmer’s role in appointing Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to Washington, after documents detailing the process showed no formal input from the prime minister.A day after 147 pages of documents were released by the government, No 10 also denied that the approval and vetting of Mandelson had been rushed through, saying normal procedures were followed.Starmer’s spokesperson reiterated the prime minister’s regret over the choice, which saw Mandelson sacked just nine months into the job after new details emerged about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted child sex offender.Speaking on a visit to Belfast on Thursday, Starmer said he had not known the extent of Mandelson’s links to Epstein. “But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was me that made a mistake, and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein, and I do that

Several Labour MPs in talks with Greens about defecting to the party, sources say

Several Labour MPs are in talks about defecting to the Greens, but are seeking guarantees they would be backed electorally by their new party, the Guardian has been told.Zack Polanski, the leader of the Greens in England and Wales, has said publicly that he has chatted to Labour MPs about the idea of switching sides, with the leftwing party enjoying a surge in membership and having overtaken Labour in some recent opinion polls.A series of other senior Green figures have confirmed that talks with several MPs are happening, but that none are yet at the stage of wanting to commit.“We already have a lot of experience of Labour councillors defecting to us, so this is not a surprise,” one said. “But it takes time

Starmer overruled warning of ‘reputational risk’ over Mandelson appointment, files show

Keir Starmer overruled officials who warned of a “reputational risk” in making Peter Mandelson US ambassador, despite being handed a dossier of evidence about the peer’s relationship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, documents reveal.The disclosure in newly released files will raise fresh questions about Starmer’s judgment – as well as about the vetting procedures at the highest levels of government.The files show that Mandelson was offered a highly classified briefing from the Foreign Office even before he finished the formal vetting process.They also show that two of the government’s most senior security and foreign policy officials – national security adviser Jonathan Powell and FCDO permanent secretary Philip Barton – raised concerns about Mandelson’s appointment due to his involvement in previous public scandals.Despite the document prepared by the officials warning that Mandelson had continued his relationship with Epstein after his conviction, emails show close aides to the prime minister said they were “satisfied” with Mandelson’s explanations of their friendship

Starmer’s national security adviser expressed concern about Mandelson appointment, documents show - as it happened

According to the documents, Keir Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell expressed concerns about the appointment of Peter Mandelson with Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s former chief of staff.He said he believed Starmer “may have had a couple of political conversations” about Mandelson’s links to the disgraced financier.Powell also claimed Philip Barton, the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, also “had reservations around the appointment”, the BBC reported.The first set of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US was released by the government today. MPs ordered the government last month to release tens of thousands of documents relating to the 2024 appointment after questions over how Mandelson was vetted and what was known about his links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein