Roger Mullin

Humanitarian campaigner @REVIVE_campaign . Honorary Professor University of Stirling @StirUni . Former @theSNP MP. Anti-corruption campaigner.

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

@DeidreBrock @theSNP Thanks Deirdre, I was already aware of that, but good of you to make sure!

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

I am very sad to report that my friend Randall Foggie has passed away. Randall contributed hugely to the cause of independence. He was also my brilliant election agent and mentor when, along with our great teams, we won Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath for @theSNP in 2015.

RIP Randall

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

@elizax650 Rotor, rear, rotter, Lots more too

[Annabelle Ewing @aewing4Cbeath]

My favourite book which has inspired me throughout my life , both as a lawyer, as well as a politician-To Kill a Mockingbird: “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience”. I know that my late Mum Winnie & my late father Stewart would not demur. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

The Scottish Government has already had a very positive consultation on the need for anti SLAPP legislation with a commitment from @theSNP ln its manifesto to move forward and legislate. Scotland must not be held back by failure at UK level. @JohnSwinney

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

The Scottish Government has already had a very positive consultation on the need for anti SLAPP legislation with a commitment from @theSNP ln its manifesto to move forward and legislate. Scotland must not be held back by failure at UK level. @JohnSwinney

[Index on Censorship @IndexCensorship]

#UK: The absence of anti-SLAPP measures in the King’s Speech is deeply disappointing.

Once again, the government has failed to protect British courts from abusive lawsuits that threaten free speech.

We won’t give up. The fight to #StopSLAPPs continues ⬇️
https://t.co/p6OnbTpFZH

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

@GerryHassan @marcuscarslaw1 Yes and deep lifelong friend with the late Neil MacCormick, who was of course of SNP persuasion. Both similar in terms of profound decency and public service. Would such decency was as present in today’s politics.

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

The speech by Keir Starmer this morning made no mention of #Wales, #Scotland or #NorthernIreland. How very odd, to say the least.

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

@AlanSherry1 I am very aware there remain many unanswered questions. For example, what was the source of the rather crude traffic light document and why wasn’t it shared with Robbins is one of a number of such unanswered questions.

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

I don’t always agree with Robert Peston, but this is a really good summary of the situation following today’s committee questioning of Olly Robbins. 👇

[Robert Peston @Peston]

Olly Robbins’s testimony about how Lord Mandelson received vetting clearance to go to Washington as Britain’s ambassador is yet another blow to the perceived competence of the prime minister and his team.

These are the headlines.

1) The Cabinet office did not initially believe Mandelson needed to be vetted at all, but the foreign office insisted

2) Downing Street put enormous pressure on the Foreign Office to rush through the vetting after the PM had announced Mandelson would be the new ambassador

3) The foreign office’s grant to Mandelson of developed vetting status was in line with normal practice, though Robbins believes the prime minister should never have announced Mandelson as ambassador

4) Starmer’s private office put pressure on Robbins to appoint his director of communications Matthew Doyle as an ambassador but should keep the then foreign secretary David Lammy in the dark

5) UK Security Vetting’s concerns about appointing Mandelson were not related to his friendship with the convicted billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein

6) The UK security services granted Mandelson even higher security clearance than even the foreign office had done, namely STRAP status

What emerges from all of this is a picture of the prime minister and his team trying to appoint Mandelson at all costs, and of vetting procedures that are wholly inadequate.

What does not emerge is the notion that Robbins had any culpability for the worst appointment in modern political history, that of Mandelson as US ambassador.

That is damaging enough for Starmer, given that he was forced to sack Mandelson after only nine months when emails leaked to Bloomberg proved that Mandelson’s known friendship with Epstein continued to be unhealthily close after the late billionaire was jailed for paedophile crimes.

But as bad for Starmer is that Robbins was a highly credible witness, which leads to the inescapable conclusion that he has been made a scapegoat by Starmer, that he was doing his job properly and that he should not have been dismissed.

The point is that Robbins had no proper basis for  blocking Mandelson, once the PM had announced he would be appointed, especially given that the PM had been informed by the Cabinet Office of the Epstein and either serious risks BEFORE he appointed Mandelson.

The big mistake preceded Olly Robbins even taking up the job of permanent under-secretary at the foreign office.  That was to announce Mandelson would be US ambassador, with the King’s official blessing.

Starmer did that, not Robbins.

Starmer gave Robbins the boot apparently for not having the imagination at the time to find a way to save the PM from his own catastrophic decisions - even though Starmer and his then chief of staff Morgan McSweeney just wanted the FCDO to rush the vetting and rubber stamp the appointment.

The implications for Starmer’s grip on office are so obvious they do not bear repeating.

[emily m @maitlis]

Whatever the outcome of this committee hearing #Robbins is coming across as a brilliant civil servant - who is entirely in control of the facts, the sensitivity, the code and the principles of his job. And he is exposing the PM as a leader who either didnt grasp the facts, ignored smart advice - or has chosen to appear outraged when he should not have been.

[Jon Sopel @jonsopel]

I have listened to Sir Olly Robbins evidence for last hour and forty minutes and am seeing the very best of the civil service. I am left incredulous that the decision was made to fire him. Has there been a more egregious and shameful decision by a political master desperate to save his own skin?

[MP @P14Murray]

It's no surprise that no-one has put their name to this disgraceful piece of propaganda posing as history. Who wrote it @ScotRail ? It's perfectly possible to write Scottish history honestly and have a range of political opinions, but this is presentist claptrap.

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

@P14Murray @DanielJHannan @OxUniPress Hannan is something of an expert in “weird” views! Looking forward to your book, Murray.

[MP @P14Murray]

In 1776, Common Sense- Paine’s tract whose title referenced the Scottish Common Sense philosophy of Thomas Reid- spurred on the cause of US independence. It is rammed full of warnings against tyranny & the concentration of power.

[History Defined @historydefined]

Paralympic high jumper Łukasz Mamczarz clearing 1.77m (5'10") on one leg

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

@joycemcm Agree completely, Joyce.

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

I’m no longer going to post on X. Will only return if and when it stops promoting abhorrent and abusive content.

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

@billykayscot I agree with many on here. A Shark is working well for us, Billy.

[Roger Mullin @RogMull]

@MayMayspeaks What