Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to quit today over “lies” after it emerged that Peter Mandelson failed security vetting for his role as US ambassador but officials were overruled by the Foreign Office. The Mail has the story.
The New Labour architect is said to have been initially denied developed vetting clearance in January 2025 – weeks after the PM had officially announced his appointment.
However, according to the Guardian the Foreign Office deployed a rarely-used power to override the recommendation from security officials.
The fact that Mandelson did not get signed off has not previously been revealed, despite the Government being forced by MPs to release of a batch of documents about the process.
Sir Keir previously insisted Mandelson was subject to “security vetting, carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave him clearance for the role”.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Last September, Keir Starmer told Parliament three times that ”full due process” was followed over the appointment of Lord Mandelson.
“We now know the Prime Minister misled the House. The Prime Minister must take responsibility.”
Nigel Farage said: “Now we discover that he has blatantly lied, the Prime Minister should resign.”
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey also called for the PM’s resignation. “Keir Starmer had already made a catastrophic error of judgement,” he said.
“Now it looks as though he has also misled Parliament and lied to the British public. If that is the case, he must go.”
The claims risk reviving the furore that already came close to exploding Sir Keir’s premiership in February.
Labour MPs have been up in arms that Mandelson was given the key job despite long-standing ties to Epstein.
The Guardian cited multiple sources for the claim, and it is not known whether the PM was aware his pick for ambassador had not been approved by the UKSV agency.
It is understood Mandelson is adamant that he did not know he had been rejected until the reports today.
It is also not clear who in the Foreign Office made the apparent decision to overrule UKSV.
Olly Robbins is believed to have been the permanent secretary at the time, while Deputy PM David Lammy was foreign secretary.
Worth reading in full.
Downing Street is blaming “officials” in the Foreign Office. From the Telegraph.
Hours after the story broke, Downing Street blamed “officials” in the Foreign Office for the decision to override recommendations by the UK’s Security Vetting agency (UKSV).
A No. 10 spokesman said that the Foreign Office overruled UKSV but Downing Street had not been informed of that decision.
“Neither the Prime Minister, nor any Government minister, was aware that Peter Mandelson was granted developed vetting against the advice of UK security vetting until earlier this week,” the spokesman said.
They added that after Sir Keir was informed about the decision he “immediately instructed officials to establish the facts” before updating the House of Commons.
The newspaper’s investigation also found that Government officials were weighing up whether to block MPs and peers from accessing documents that revealed Lord Mandelson had failed the vetting process.
This would break the terms of the parliamentary motion that has forced Sir Keir’s administration to release thousands of files relating to his appointment of Lord Mandelson.
The release of the next tranche of documents is expected within the next few days, with the first 147 pages of the Mandelson files having been released last month.
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Probably a lone voice but better the lying bastard you know than the unknown one who comes next. The lineup of replacements is truly appalling. Ranting Rayner, the creepy Streeting – fan of pushing Daily Mail journalists in front of trains, Mad Ed from the asylum, Pixie Balls-Cooper the primary school teacher. At least the office temp from the Treasury is not throwing her hat in.
If Starmer truly did not know because he was not told, then clearly he is not in charge or control of Government – being in charge and control is his job.
The Dark Lord was his choice, therefore the responsibility to ensure all proper formalities had been complete was his. Apart from anything else it was in his own best interest to do so to make sure nothing from such a high profile appointment of someone with a shady past came back to bite him. That raises questions about his reasoning abilities and intellect.
It was his responsibility to get a final report to determine if Mandy was a suitable person to represent the United Kingdom – actually the King – in Washington.
Whether he did know, didn’t know, what he knew or didn’t, leads to the same point – he is not suitable or adequate for his Office. Well most of us knew that already.
Whilst it would be satisfying to see him to resign, it probably is not in the Country’s best interest with respect to the Marxist-shyte that would replace him. Better the Devil you know – trite as that may be
Looking at it from another angle, where is the motive for the FCDO to override the vetting but not tell ministers?
I saw a clip of Ollie Robbins being questioned and I am stunned how someone can so blatantly lie and think it is ok.
Two-Tier is going to claim that he (and Lammy) had no idea that Mandelson failed vetting.
He would rather be humiliated and branded completely incompetent than admit he lied.
And, under our corrupt “democracy” which relies on decent, “honourable” men doing the right thing, there is nothing we can do about it.
If Keith appointed Mandy in the knowledge that Mandy had failed the vettting procedure then that was a foolhardy and reckless decision which is evidence of poor judgement. If Keith was not aware that Mandy had failed the vetting then that is also evidence of poor judgement considering the importance of the post involved.
Assuring parliament and the nation that due diligence was followed in appointing Mandy is in both situations above a lie. Admitting, as Keith has, that he and the relevant cabinet ministers only knew a few days ago of the failed vetting is evidence that any reassurance of due diligence given to parliament are at best worthless and worst misleading.
Either way he’s cooked.
To be fair, it is true that the procedure was followed, the lie by omission ie. That he failed vetting is not strictly speaking a lie. It is not a statement of a falsehood.
What is shocking is the extent to which the PM is prepared to make idiotic statements like this, just to buy a few more weeks in office .
Mean we all know these people hardly know the difference between truth and lies but at least to a certain extent Blair, Cameron and Johnson, destructive loathsome bastards that they were, had some charisma, something about them.
Starmer is just a hopeless dud and probably the most destructive of the lot.
At least a correct decision was arrived at in the first stage of the vetting procedure although with a track record like Mandelson’s it would have been seriously worrying if it hadn’t. It is reasonable to conclude therefore that Kneel was well aware that Mandy had been deemed a dangerous liability and so he should have called an end to the matter but he didn’t he sent the package to another department for a “newer” decision which duly arrived. The obvious question – why ?
Bottom line, Kneel is as guilty as hell.
I’m waiting for him to say he’d never met the man, had no idea who he was, and was guided by his staff on the appointment… it can surely only be a matter of time?
Surely not, he is a lawyer, was Director of Public Prosecutions, and now the Prime Minister. What are you implying?
😉
Bottom line is that Mandelson has some very serious Kompromat on Two-Tier.
My first thought as well.
The knives are out from his own side but they are going to find it very hard to get him out.
..until the local election results come in. Might be easier then.
I honestly would not be surprised if he didn’t have people working on how delay the elections. For as long as possible. He does not believe in democracy, and is not working for the better interests of this country.
What a lovely, quaint idea… that the system is so honourable that one mere lie should force one of these filthy tyrants to remove themselves from administering tyranny. It’s analogous to telling an elephant to stop being an elephant because of his trunk
Starmer never takes responsibility for anything does he.
He must be a nightmare to work for (not that I actually feel any sympathy for the people who do work for him, they’re all awful too).
It’s the trait of a sociopath.
Maybe true, maybe not. Who knows. I don’t believe anything they report, because one day it’s one thing the next it’s the opposite. New information suddenly appears, but it’s not clear how, from whom, why now.
I do know this. If it is true that Mandelson did not pass security vetting and this was overridden, plenty of people knew it to be the case and chose not to say or do anything about it and all of a sudden they are now. Which means they want us to know now, not before, now. For some reason. Which reason? Who knows.
It’s all a pantomime and we are just the audience invited to shout from time to time as and when they require us to.
‘It’s behind you!’ Most appropriate probably in this case?…
This will not have ‘passed over his desk’.
Guaranteed.
And, he will be furious that he was not told…
Do you have tomorrow’s lottery results by any chance? You are spot on with this!
Will “lessons be learned” I wonder?