Oxford News

How Oxfordshire MPs voted in Peter Mandelson investigation

Published

14 hours ago

April 30, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Lord Mandelson, who was a frontrunner for Oxford University’s 2024 race to become chancellor but finished fourth as William Hague took up the role, has been under fire over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

MPs voted on Tuesday regarding Lord Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US by Sir Keir.

Overall, the motion to refer Sir Keir Starmer to the Privileges Committee was rejected in the House of Commons by 223 to 335, with a majority of 112.

Among the 56 Liberal Democrats who voted in favour of the investigations were Witney MP Charlie Maynard, Bicester and Woodstock MP Calum Miller, Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran, and Didcot and Wantage MP Olly Glover.

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Voting against the investigation were 333 Labour MPs, and one independent MP.

Within the 333 Labour MPs who voted against an investigation was Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds, and Banbury MP Sean Woodcock.

The tellers for the Noes were Labour MPs Nesil Caliskan who represents the Barking constituency and Deirdre Costigan who represents Ealing Southall.

Lord Peter Mandelson outside his home in north-west London

No vote was recorded for 53 Labour MPs, 12 Conservative MPs, 16 Liberal Democrat MPs, two Reform UK MPs, and three independent MPs.

A breakdown of the vote revealed 15 Labour MPs, 56 Liberal Democrats, 100 Conservatives, nine Scottish National Party MP, five Democratic Unionist Party MPs, four Plaid Cymru MPs, six Reform UK MP, five Green Party MP, one Alliance MP, two Social Democratic & Labour Party MPs, one Ulster Unionist Party MP, one Traditional Unionist Voice MP, and nine Independent MPs voted for the investigation.

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Tellers (counters) for the Ayes were Conservative MPs Harriet Cross, for Gordon and Buchan constituency and Gregory Stafford for the Farnham and Bordon constituency.

Notably, Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage abstained from voting, so did former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir of “begging” his MPs to back him, adding: “The whole country is sick of this man’s tone deaf, pompous moralising.”

Sir Keir Starmer faced the final session of PMQs before Parliament is suspended (House of Commons/PA)

She has said the Prime Minister was guilty of misleading the Commons when he claimed due process was followed and no pressure was exerted to grant Lord Mandelson security clearance against official advice.

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The Prime Minister has consistently denied misleading the House, leaning on the conclusion of former cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald that “appropriate processes” were followed.

Mrs Badenoch said: “This Government is like a bad episode of Game Of Thrones.

“His own people have turned against him and all the while, the Prime Minister is holed up in his castle, wetting himself about a visit from the King in the North.

“Yesterday, one Labour MP actually said that his days are numbered. That’s one of them. I wonder who it was because they’re all looking guilty as hell.”

Sir Keir replied: “She talks about political games. That’s what she was doing yesterday.”

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Oxford News

Oxfordshire arrest for ‘drug driving’ as 48 cars stopped

Published

2 hours ago

May 1, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Thames Valley Police road’s policing department carried out a joint road safety operation with DVSA yesterday, Thursday, April 30.

The operation saw 48 drivers stopped and 39 driving offences identified, including two vehicles seized.

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One driver was arrested on suspicion of drug driving.

Police said within the 39 offences, 11 vehicles were found to be overweight, one vehicle was being driven in a dangerous condition, and vehicles were found to have defective lights, brakes and tyres and six were found driving with insecure loads.

Police roads operation Two vehicles were seized and eight issued prohibition orders, cutting short their journeys (Image: Thames Valley Police)

In addition, one driver had no vehicle tax, two had no insurance, one was found on their phone while driving and one was in breach of their operator licence.

A total of 11 vehicles were caught committing offences relating to tachographs, which are a mandatory tracker installed on trucks and buses to record driving time, speed, distance, and rest periods to ensure compliance with legal working hours and safety regulations.

Eight were found to have driving hours offences and three were found without a tachograph installed.

READ MORE: Oxford congestion charge traffic – resident ‘gridlock’ anger

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “In total, eight prohibitions were issued, preventing unsafe vehicles from continuing their journey.

“Operations like this are vital to improving road safety and reducing serious collisions.

“Please ensure your vehicle is roadworthy and you comply with all driving legislation.”

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Oxford News

UK to see 27C and hotter than Hawaii before May Bank Holiday

Published

4 hours ago

May 1, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

According to the Met Office, temperatures in London and East Anglia could climb to around 27C at the end of the working week, making Friday the hottest day of the year so far.

It will be hotter than Honolulu, where highs of about 26C are expected.

However, thick cloud along the central spine of the UK – from parts of Scotland down through the Pennines and into the Midlands – could bring some heavy rain and thunder on Friday, meaning not everyone will see warm, sunny conditions.

After a sunny mix the weather for the weekend looks a little different, will you get a shower? Most will but it won’t rain all weekend.

Bringing you this long weekend’s weather forecast is Alex Deakin. pic.twitter.com/l9TBwndiod

— Met Office (@metoffice) April 30, 2026

“We’ve got some very warm, humid air coming up from the south,” Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge told the Press Association.

“That means we will see some very warm weather, particularly in the east and the South East, because there we’ll see the best of the sunshine.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean everybody’s going to get a warm, dry, beautiful day.”

“Certainly the odd rumble of thunder is possible there, particularly over the Midlands,” Mr Partridge said.

Friday’s highs in London and the South East will be around 10C above average for the time of year, which is 15 to 17C, the Met Office said.

Meanwhile, Cardiff could be warmer than Athens, where forecasters are predicting a high of 14C on Friday, which is 5C cooler than the estimated top temperatures in the Welsh capital.

The warm weather still falls short of the record high in April of 29.4C, which was recorded in Camden Square, central London, in 1949, Met Office records show.

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What will the weather be like over the weekend?

Sadly, the weekend will be “a different story” though, with changeable conditions forecast across the UK.

“The weekend is a bit of a different story, really,” said Mr Partridge.

“There will be some bright spells in there as well on Saturday, but there will also be showers, particularly across northern and western parts of the UK.”

Rain is forecast across the country on Sunday and temperatures will continue to cool towards averages for April.

What are you doing this weekend? Let us know in the comments

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