Former Official Goes to Court After Losing Job

前官員被解僱後提起訴訟

Jul 13, 2026, 12:06

Introduction

Sir Olly Robbins was a top leader in the UK government. He is now taking Prime Minister Keir Starmer to court because the Prime Minister fired him.

Sir Olly Robbins 曾是英國政府的高級領導者。他現在正起訴首相 Keir Starmer，因為首相將他解僱了。

Main Body

The problem started with Lord Mandelson. He was the UK ambassador to the US. Some people did not like him because he knew a bad man named Jeffrey Epstein. The Prime Minister fired Sir Olly in April 2025. He was angry because Sir Olly gave Lord Mandelson a security pass.

問題始於 Lord Mandelson。他是英國駐美大使。有些人不喜歡他，因為他認識一個名叫 Jeffrey Epstein 的惡劣之人。首相在 2025 年 4 月解僱了 Sir Olly。首相很憤怒，因為 Sir Olly 給了 Lord Mandelson 一張安全通行證。

Sir Olly has a union to help him. The union says the Prime Minister made a mistake. They say Sir Olly could not tell the Prime Minister everything because the rules say he must keep secrets.

Sir Olly 有工會協助他。工會表示首相犯了錯。他們說 Sir Olly 無法向首相告知一切，因為規定要求他必須保密。

The union also says the Prime Minister did not have the power to fire him. Sir Olly says he followed the rules and did not do anything wrong.

工會還表示首相沒有權力解僱他。Sir Olly 則表示他遵守了規定，並沒有做錯任何事。

Conclusion

Now, a judge will decide if the Prime Minister acted correctly or broke the law.

現在將由法官決定首相的行為是否正確，或者是否違法。

Vocabulary Learning

⚖️ Action & Result

Look at how these words describe things happening in the past:

Fired $\rightarrow$ lost a job
Started $\rightarrow$ began
Decide $\rightarrow$ pick an answer

💡 How to talk about 'People'

In English, we use these small words to point to a person without saying their name again:

He $\rightarrow$ Sir Olly / The Prime Minister / Lord Mandelson They $\rightarrow$ The union (a group of people)

🛠️ Simple Rule: The "Did Not" Pattern

When we want to say something was not true in the past, we use did not + action word:

$\text{did not like}$ $\rightarrow$ Some people did not like him.
$\text{did not have}$ $\rightarrow$ The Prime Minister did not have the power.
$\text{did not do}$ $\rightarrow$ Sir Olly did not do anything wrong.

Vocabulary Learning

official (n.)

A person who has a position of authority in an organization or government

Example:The government official signed the important document.

fired (v.)

To tell someone that they must stop working for a company or government

Example:The boss fired him because he was always late.

ambassador (n.)

A person sent by their country to live and work in another country

Example:The ambassador lives in a large house in Washington.

union (n.)

An organization that protects the rights of workers

Example:The union helped the worker get a better salary.

mistake (n.)

Something that is done wrong

Example:I made a mistake on my English test.

decide (v.)

To make a choice about something after thinking about it

Example:I cannot decide which dress to wear for the party.

Practice A2 words in a crossword→