{"id":444550,"date":"2026-02-25T09:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/444550\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:46:08","slug":"rude-arrogant-and-entitled-mps-line-up-to-condemn-disgraced-andrew-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/444550\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Rude, arrogant and entitled\u2019: MPs line up to condemn disgraced Andrew | UK news"},"content":{"rendered":"

MPs are usually wary of openly criticising British royals in the Commons. Tuesday was a notable exception. Aside from the fact that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested<\/a> over allegations of misconduct in public office as a trade envoy, the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, let it be known that there was no prohibition on criticising royals in the chamber.<\/p>\n

And so a number of MPs did:<\/p>\n

1. Chris Bryant, Labour MP and trade minister<\/p>\n

\u201cColleagues and many civil servants have told me their own stories of their interactions with Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, and they all betray the same pattern: a man on a constant self-aggrandising and self-enriching hustle; a rude, arrogant and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interest, which he said he served, and his own private interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, we knew much of what is now in the public domain a very long time ago. It is all very well for some of us to say: \u2018If only we had known then what we know now,\u2019 but I am afraid that doesn\u2019t wash with me. We did actually have plenty of warning.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central<\/p>\n

\u201cI first raised my concern because my constituency carries the name of York and the Duke of York\u2019s ambassadorial associations with our city were causing much concern in my community \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cNo longer can these powerful men swan around the world having these conversations, gaining more power and exploiting whoever crosses their path without being held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Monica Harding, Liberal Democrat MP<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the early noughties, I was working overseas with the British Council. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor visited us as part of his role as a UK trade envoy. Before his arrival, senior staff in both the embassy and the British Council were rolling their eyes \u2013 his reputation preceded him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was told that it was a \u2018containment\u2019 exercise, that overseas missions feared putting him out there in case he said something inappropriate, that he was arrogant and that he was not on top of his brief. Rather than looking forward to his visits as an opportunity to promote Britain, it was instead thought that he would do damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Anna Sabine, Liberal Democrat MP<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough this debate concerns Mountbatten-Windsor, it is not about one man; it is really about the structural sexism embedded in our institutions. Violence against women and girls does not persist in this country for a lack of speeches in this chamber, but because, structurally, it is still not treated as foundational to our policymaking \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a party political issue, nor is it about individual commitment; it is about whether the system itself is designed to prioritise women\u2019s safety. Too often, it is not.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Si\u00e2n Berry, Green MP<\/p>\n

\u201cThe royal family is sheltered from scrutiny in too many ways, and it is now very clear what a risk that poses. We have heard many examples of MPs facing restrictions on what we can ask about royal activity, but it is reasonable and right that we should scrutinise fully any work that they do on the country\u2019s behalf, and consider how those restrictions might be removed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MPs are usually wary of openly criticising British royals in the Commons. Tuesday was a notable exception. Aside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-444550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}