Prime Minister Keir Starmer will address the Commons this afternoon as questions mount over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States.
Oppostion leaders have all called for his resignation and there is growing disquiet among his own backbenchers over Starmer’s decision to appoint Mandelson – a man who had previously been forced to resign TWICE for dishonesty and whose links to disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were in the public domain.
Despite Mandelson’s controversial background, Starmer appointed the lobbyist to a senior diplomatic post only to dismiss him in September when more Epstein revelations came to light.
Starmer is now claiming he was unaware that Mandelson failed security vetting and that, had he known, he would not have appointed the disgraced peer. The vetting process actually took place after the announcement of Mandelson’s appointment.
Exactly what Starmer knew, and when, may just become a little clearer this afternoon. ‘Furious’ Starmer will doubtless come out fighting, and Cabinet colleagues have been circling the wagons to protect their leader, but whether Westminster will believe the Prime Minister’s version of events is another matter.
The Mandelson affair is another self-inflicted wound, and an unwelcome distraction for a government facing elections across the country in just three weeks time.
The Traitors: Drama Expert Reveals the Psychological Tricks That Make a ‘Bulletproof’ Traitor
It’s not the slickest actors who make the best Traitors – it’s the ones who feel the most real, according to a drama expert decoding the hit show’s psychological twists.
Zara Wardrop, a drama expert at Kelvinside Academy, has lifted the lid on the key skills she believes can help Traitors fly completely under the Faithfuls’ radar and, just as importantly, how those same traits can expose them.
Throughout the series, Traitors must present themselves as honest and truthful all while secretly plotting to betray fellow contestants, and sometimes even each other, in pursuit of the cash jackpot.
While it may look like a game of deception, Zara says the biggest mistake Traitors can make is trying too hard to act innocent. Instead, she believes authenticity, even when it looks messy, is the real secret weapon.
Zara points to Stephen’s handling of suspicion as a textbook example. When he threw fellow Traitor Fiona under the bus, he didn’t deliver a perfectly scripted defence. Instead, he let emotion take over, stumbling over his words, allowing his voice to break.
Was it genuine emotion or clever performance? Either way, it worked.
“People under suspicion tend to completely overact in order to try and come across more innocent, and it becomes too rehearsed,” Zara explains. “Being authentic is not the same as being perfect. Just because someone stumbles over their words doesn’t make them guilty, it just makes them human.
“Innocence isn’t always expressed through behaviour; it’s just a state of being when you’re innocent … or acting innocent.”
According to Zara, the most effective approach is what actors call method acting, fully stepping into the mindset of a Faithful, rather than performing one on the surface.
“The best way to do this is by believing the lie,” she says. “Have you ever told a lie that you’ve somehow managed to convince yourself was the truth? You start to live the lie, and it becomes much easier to appear Faithful.
“The goal here is to convince yourself you’re innocent first, before you look to convince others. That way, you’ll come across as authentic as possible.”
But while authenticity can protect a Traitor, Zara warns that the smallest slip can still give the game away, particularly when it comes to eye contact.
“The dead giveaway is eye contact all the time, or not at all. You can always see when someone is not being truthful,” she says. “The eyes are the gateway to the soul, and that can be the first giveaway.”
For the Faithful hoping to catch a Traitor out, Zara says consistency is key, or rather, the lack of it.
“There’ll be a lack of consistency,” she explains. “You can see them reminding themselves to sustain this character sometimes, and then it just drops because, you know, you’re human. That’s my first kind of dead giveaway.
“Also watch how they react to others. Because they’re so wrapped up in their own mind, they sometimes fail to pick up on other people’s cues and body language. They misread the room, which leads to an inconsistent response that can catch them out.”
With suspicion at an all-time high and the final looming, the question remains: will the remaining Traitors take Zara’s advice and stay hidden in plain sight?
All will be revealed when The Traitors concludes tonight.
The 2025 Edinburgh International Festival begins today with the first of more than 133 performances: the ultimate destination to experience world-class artists across music, theatre, opera and dance in creative and unconventional ways in Edinburgh this August.
Exploring the theme The Truth We Seek, more than 2,000 internationally renowned artists from across 42 nations, including a third of artists based in Scotland, will perform.
Upcoming highlights include: the world premiere of theatre blockbuster Make It Happen from James Graham, monumental 8-hour choral work The Veil of the Temple, an Australian reimagining of opera Orpheus and Eurydice featuring acrobatics, and the Scottish premiere of Nederlands Dans Theater, Simon McBurney and Crystal Pite’sFigures in Extinction.
To ensure that cost isn’t a barrier to cultural discovery, half the tickets for the 2025 International Festival will be sold at £30 or less, and £10 tickets have been made available for every performance across the programme. Tickets can be purchased from www.eif.co.uk.
THE CURTAIN rises today on the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival, welcoming over 2000 artists from 42 countries to Edinburgh for a 24-day global celebration of world-class performing arts.
The third year under Festival Director and celebrated Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, this year’s International Festival welcomes audiences to explore opera, music, theatre and dance through the lens of the theme The Truth We Seek, a journey into the elusive nature of truth in our personal and public lives.
This year’s programme invites audiences to experience bold, thought-provoking performances in fresh and unconventional ways. The opening weekend features large-scale participatory events The Big Singalong and The Ceilidh Sessions, celebrating the collective joy of singing and dancing outdoors in Princes Street Gardens, set against the iconic backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.
Elsewhere, the historic Old College Quad becomes the stage for the world premiere of Dance People, an outdoor dance performance, and a classic opera is reimagined with a twist in Orpheus and Eurydice, bringing together world-class musicians and performers with breathtaking acrobatics from Australia’s Circa.
The 2025 programme also opens up barriers to cultural discovery: more than 50,000 tickets are priced at £30 or less, £10 Affordable Tickets have been made available to all performances, and wide-reaching initiatives offer free tickets to NHS workers, young people and community groups to a range of Festival performances.
Stand-out performances across the International Festival include:
Make It Happen(1–9 August, Festival Theatre) The world premiere of a gripping new drama by James Graham, tackling the 2008 financial crisis in Edinburgh. Starring Brian Cox as Adam Smith and Sandy Grierson as Fred Goodwin, this timely co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep reframes the collapse of global markets through a distinctly Scottish lens.
Opening Concert: The Veil of the Temple(2 August, Usher Hall) A spiritual epic: over 250 singers from the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Monteverdi Choir and National Youth Choir of Scotland perform John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple in its complete eight-hour form with the audience seated on beanbags. This year also marks the first performance in the Festival Chorus’s 60th anniversary year.
Dance People(7–10 August, Old College Quad) Lebanese choreographer Omar Rajeh and Maqamat company present an open-air activation of dance, movement and activism. Performed outdoors in the heart of the city, it dissolves the lines between performance and real life.
Orpheus and Eurydice(13-16 August, Edinburgh Playhouse) A highlight of the 2025 Festival’s opera programme, a fully staged Australian reimagining of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice fuses together circus, acrobatics and world-class opera, in its European premiere.
Figures in Extinction (22-24 August, Festival Theatre) Nederlands Dans Theater present the Scottish Premiere of Figures in Extinction in collaboration with Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney, confronting the hard truths about humanity’s impact on the world and art’s meaning in the face of mass destruction.
The Hub, the International Festival’s headquarters on the Royal Mile, brings together a hand-picked variety of global musical styles and traditions, experienced up close in an intimate and informal performance space, including Up Late gigs from Alabaster DePlume(8 August) and Kathryn Joseph (9 August), and an interactive concert from Hanni Liang(7 August) inviting audience members to share their dreams, with a live response created on the piano.
Residencies bring London Symphony Orchestra, Poland’s NFM Leopoldinum and Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2 to Edinburgh for an extended, more sustainable stay that features multiple performances and community engagement. Highlight performances include NYO2’s Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, NFM with Bizet’s Carmen Suite andBeethoven and Shostakovichfrom the LSO, presented with insight from Sir Antonio Pappano and Festival Director Nicola Benedetti.
Edinburgh International Festival Director, Nicola Benedetti said: “This year’s International Festival is a bold invitation to question the world around us – to seek, challenge and reflect on truth through the extraordinary lens of live performance.
“We’re honoured to welcome artists and audiences from across the globe to Edinburgh, and we remain deeply committed to making that experience more accessible than ever. Whether you’re here for an intimate recital, a powerful play, a mass singalong or an eight-hour choral epic, you’ll encounter connection, curiosity, and the power of great art to shift perspectives.
“This year’s Festival offers the possibility of truly transformational encounters and I look forward to sharing this with you.”
Councillor Margaret Graham, Culture and Communities Convener said: “Each year the International Festival offers a real variety of innovative and striking art and performance. 2025 is no different, with the programme encouraging Deep Thinkers, Social Butterflies, The Curious and Romantics.
“The range, from outdoor ceilidhs to epic opera, means there is truly something for everyone, bringing together world class performers from around the globe and here in Scotland. There are several different price options that will let even more people discover the magic of the International Festival too. These include Young Musician’s Pass, Tickets for Good and substantial discounts for art workers and under 30s.”
Multi-Artform Manager at Creative Scotland, Lorna Duguid, said: “The Edinburgh International Festival continues to be a beacon for artistic excellence and cultural exchange, bringing the world to Scotland and showcasing Scotland to the world.
“This year’s theme, The Truth We Seek, speaks powerfully to the times we live in- inviting artists and audiences alike to explore, question and connect through extraordinary performances.
“With a third of this year’s programme featuring artists based in Scotland and an unwavering commitment to accessibility, the International Festival exemplifies how world-class culture can be both globally relevant and locally rooted.”
Tickets to world-class performances across a hand-picked programme of music, theatre, opera and dance at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2025 are available at www.eif.co.uk.
Labour MSP for the Lothians, Sarah Boyack, has written an open letter to First Minister Humza Yousaf urging him to be honest about the fate of Edinburgh’s replacement eye hospital.
This comes after the First Minister confirmed that the Scottish Government was still committed to the eye hospital, despite the capital spending freeze imposed on health boards.
However, excerpts from the NHS Lothian board papers confirmed that work on the eye hospital would “cease” and stated that the board “should recognise the loss of this future infrastructure” will lead to major, negative challenges in delivering scheduled care over the coming years.
This admission throws into doubt the First Minister’s commitment, given the Scottish Government’s instruction to NHS Lothian to “immediately cease all capital projects”. The instruction includes “the New Eye Hospital at the BioQuarter”.
It also highlights a lack of certainty within the health board about the project’s status.
The current Eye Pavilion was deemed not fit for purpose in 2014, and a new replacement has been deemed a top priority by NHS Lothian.
Since 2014, the average wait time in days for inpatient and outpatient appointments more than doubled.
Ms Boyack has urged the First Minister to end the uncertainty around the project, as it is having detrimental impacts on patients and their treatment.
Commenting on her letter, Ms Boyack said:“The First Minister needs to level with the public about the replacement eye hospital.
“It was promised at the last election, then in the budget we found out that no new capital project can go ahead.
“While the First Minister says he is committed to the project, his government have kicked it into long grass.
“NHS Lothian has been put in an impossible position.
“If the First Minister is serious about delivering Edinburgh’s eye hospital, then he must come forth with a concrete timeline to deliver it.
“Anything less is just being dishonest with the public and damaging to patients.”
The letter reqads:
Dear First Minister,
I am writing regarding the recent announcements in relation to the construction of a replacement Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh.
As you are aware, you and your predecessor have both committed to a new Edinburgh Eye Hospital since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election following the current Eye Pavilion being deemed not fit for purpose in 2014. However, in a letter I received from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on the 18th January confirmed that the building of a new Eye Hospital will not go ahead.
Moreover, NHS Lothian Board papers, published in advance of the board’s meeting on the 7th of February, have stated “NHS Lothian was directed to immediately cease all capital projects”. The board paper observed that “the loss of this future infrastructure will substantively and negatively impact on our ability to deliver compliant access to scheduled care for our population in coming years.” Worryingly the paper also highlighted the “the significant and detrimental impact this decision has had on our teams many of whom have dedicated time, expertise, and leadership in supporting progress of these vital projects.”
In light of your comments during First Minister’s Questions, on January the 25th, which appear to contradict NHS Lothian, I would appreciate if you could give an overview of the timeframe for the Eye Hospital being delivered if it is still the Scottish Government’s intention to proceed with the project, after the two year capital spending project freeze. Given the lengthy and increased waiting times for operations, the Scottish Government must also provide immediate support to ensure that NHS Lothian is able to provide adequate care for those with vision impairments.
My concern is that confused information and delays will only cause more disruption for patients, on top of increasing numbers of cancelled and delayed appointments.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson admits guilt at last – but serial liar refuses to resign
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak have both been fined by the Metropolitan Police for breaching Covid regulations.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the following statement yesterday:
Today I have received a fixed penalty notice from the Metropolitan Police relating to an event in Downing Street on 19th June 2020, and let me say immediately that I have paid the fine and I once again offer a full apology.
And in a spirit of openness and humility, I want to be completely clear about what happened on that date.
My day began shortly after 7am, and I chaired eight meetings in No10, including the Cabinet Committee deciding Covid strategy, I visited a school in Hemel Hempstead, which took me out of Downing Street for over four hours.
And amongst all these engagements, on a day that happened to be my birthday, there was a brief gathering in the Cabinet Room shortly after 2pm, lasting for less than 10 minutes, during which people I work with kindly passed on their good wishes.
And I have to say in all frankness, at the time, it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules.
But of course the police have found otherwise and I fully respect the outcome of their investigation.
I understand the anger that many will feel that I myself fell short when it came to observing the very rules which the Government I lead had introduced to protect the public, and I accept in all sincerity that people had a right to expect better.
Now I feel an even greater sense of obligation to deliver on the priorities of the British people:
strengthening our economy,
creating jobs and opportunities,
levelling up the whole United Kingdom,
now, of course, ensuring that Putin fails in Ukraine, and easing the burden imposed on hard-working families caused by higher energy prices.
I will take forward that task with due humility, but with maximum determination to fulfil my duty and do what is best for the country I serve.
Whether this short statement, which addresses transgressions commited on just ONE day during lockdown, will be enough to save his political life is now in the hands of Conservative MPs, and Conservative MPs alone.
If it was left to the people of the country to decide Johnson’s fate – those millions of people who stuck to the Covid rules imposed by this government – there can be little doubt Johnson would be finished.
The Prime Minister said it himself: people had a right to expect better.If he had a scintilla of honour, Johnson would resign without delay.
TheScottish Government says lessons will be learned from the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment complaints, following the publication yesterday of the parliamentary inquiry’s report.
Responding to the findings of the Committee on the Scottish Government’s Handling of Harassment Complaints (SGHHC), Deputy First Minister John Swinney said it was clear that the women who had raised complaints had been let down.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “I welcome the report of the Committee, which, alongside the independent report produced by James Hamilton and externally led review by Laura Dunlop QC, will assist the Scottish Government’s in learning lessons for the future.
“I also welcome the Committee’s acknowledgement that the Scottish Government was motivated by doing the right thing – creating a culture and procedure for investigating any claims of harassment.
“I agree with the Committee’s finding that James Hamilton’s report is the most appropriate place to address the question of whether or not the First Minister breached the Ministerial Code. He found there was no breach.
“The Scottish Government has acknowledged that it made mistakes and that these led to the Judicial Review being conceded, and I know that this had a real, and damaging, impact for the women who raised the complaints. We have apologised for this and we do so unreservedly again today.
“I remain absolutely determined that the Scottish Government should ensure this does not happen again and that together we create a culture where these behaviours do not arise.
“Given the timing of the report it is not possible to respond fully and in detail, not least because the three reports have overlapping areas of interest, and some recommendations are in conflict with those in other reports.
“Together, all three reports highlight a range of important issues and provide the basis for improvement work which now be taken forward in consultation with others including the Parliament, Trades Unions, and those with lived experience.
“The Scottish Government will carefully consider the recommendations from the Committee, alongside the other two review reports, in order to put improvements and an implementation plan in place.”
Mr Swinney chose not to address the committee’s contention that the First Minister mislead parliament, referring instead to Mr Hamilton’s findings.
But the Hamilton report clearly states: “It is for the Scottish Parliament to decide whether they were in fact misled”.
The committee DID decide … and found the First Minister guilty.
Mr Hamilton also expressed ‘deep frustration’ at redactions made to his report.
In a note accompanying the published report he stated: “A redacted report that effectively erases the role of any such individual in the matters investigated in the report cannot be understood by those reading it, and presents an incomplete and even at times misleading version of what happened.
“It is therefore impossible to give an accurate description of some of the relevant events dealth with in the report while at the same time complying with the court orders.
“I am deeply frustrated that applicable court orders will have the effect of preventing the full publication of a report which fulfils my remit and which I believe it would be in the public interest to publish.”
The Conservatives, the biggest opposition party at Holyrood, initiated a vote of No Confidence in the First Minister, but with the Greens supporting the government – and both Labour and the Lib Dems abstaining – the Tory motion was doomed to failure.
Nicola Sturgeon will face her final First Minister’s Questions session of this parliament later today; I wonder what the questions will be about!
Then, the next test comes in six weeks time when Scotland goes to the polls in the Holyrood elections.
