Government ‘warmly welcomes’ move to make Andrew an ‘ordinary member of the public’ – UK politics live

Chris Bryant also suggests Andrew should comply with any US Senate requests to travel to America to face questions about the crimes of Jeffrey EpsteinGood morning. When David Lammy was appointed justice secretary, and lord chancellor, he probably never expected that removing Prince Andrew’s titles would end up as one of his jobs. But that is where is is today, as a consequence of the remarkable announcement from Buckingham Palace last night.Andrew is going to be stripped of his Prince and Duke of York titles and HRH style, as well as the subsidiary titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, PA Media reports. Many titles can be removed under the royal prerogative on ministerial advice and dukes, including the Duke of York, are listed on the roll of the peerage maintained at the Crown Office. As lord chancellor, Lammy is responsible for maintaining the peerage roll and he is going to receive a warrant from the king telling him to strike the duke from the roll.I really support the step that [the king] taken. I think (it’s) a very powerful message to the victims of grooming and sex offences. I used to work with children who’d been abused before I came into Parliament, including many of the girls who’d been horrifically abused by grooming gangs …This is a really brave, important and right step by the king, and I fully support it.We warmly, I warmly support what the king is doing today. I think the vast majority of people in this country will think that it’s the right thing to do.I think that the King has clearly felt that this is the right decision for the royal family. It must have been a very difficult thing for him to have done. I mean, having to do that to your own brother.But the standards and expectations in society now are very high. People expect to see the very highest levels of integrity. And I’m afraid the whole Jeffrey Epstein saga and everyone it has touched, from Prince Andrew to Peter Mandelson, has just shown that the public has no truck whatsoever with any kind of sexual abuse, sexual offences, especially of minors. And I think that that’s quite right.The king is absolutely right to strip Prince Andrew of both his titles and his residence at the Royal Lodge.It’s clear that Andrew’s position had become totally untenable, having disgraced his office and embarrassed the country. Continue reading...