UKTI, the official body responsible for promoting British industry overseas, has issued a press release containing a series of endorsements from senior figures in major businesses saying what a good job the Duke of York does.
This is a government statement, as UKTI is an arm of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It was managed for a time by Digby Jones, former head of the CBI, when he was a trade minister in Gordon Brown's government in 2007-08.
The quotes are not new - some are up to three years old. But they've been sent out again in response to criticism of Prince Andrew's role. For example, Black Country MP Adrian Bailey (Lab West Bromwich West), chairman of the Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, has questioned whether Prince Andrew could carry on, saying: "Prince Andrew is a volunteer and his efforts for British business have been well regarded in the past. But the current controversy makes his role more difficult."
