Hello and welcome to Coffeehouse Shots, The Spectator's Daily Politics Podcast. I'm

Ostra Davidson and I'm joined today by Isabel Hardman and James Heel. We've just had PMQ's, and this was,

of course, Kami Bader Knox's first chance to go on the attack after Ollie Robbins' devastating

testimony in front of the Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday.

Isabel, I'll start with you. What lessons, if any, has Keir Stama learned from O'Irubbins' defence yesterday?

I mean, amazingly, Olly Robbins, according to Keir Stama, backed up Keir Stama.

Surprise.

I mean, yesterday feels like a long time ago, but not so long that my creaking memory has forgotten

what Olly Robbins said.

And everyone else in the chamber looked baffled too, that Kirstama genuinely said in his

first answer to Kemi Bade knock who asked him, did he stand by the claim he made on the 10th of September last year that full due process was followed in the appointment of Peter Mandelson? Stama pops up and says, yes, I do. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yesterday, Sir Olly Robbins was asked if he shared that decision with me, number 10 or any other ministers, he gave a clear answer, no, that puts

to bed all the allegations leveled at me by those opposite in relation to dishonesty.

And then he later claims in another answer that Robbins had said that there was no pressure

put on him, which Robbins did say, but that is not the sumtouchal of how Robbins characterised

even the attitude towards the vetting process

from Downing Street, let alone his, you know, his wider evidence. And I was watching the proceedings.

I was thinking, gosh, I'm not surprised that MPs are quiet, Labour MPs, because, you know,

they can't really be cheering along to any of this. But I think they were also quiet because

they were just baffled about

what they were hearing. I were thinking, have I misheard that? Is that what he's leaning into?

I mean, by his payoff, you know, to the final question from Baynelock, at the end of the six,

both always try to get their lines in for the sort of, you know, the news headlines and for the

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