Starmer-Mandelson latest: PM ‘furious’ he was not told Labour peer failed vetting as he faces calls to resign – UK Times

Politics reporter Athena Stavrou writes:

Downing Street has insisted no one in No 10 knew that security services had recommended against Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador – despite The Independent telling them several sources had made the claims seven months ago.

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox put the revelations to No 10 last year, and was told the vetting had been done “in the normal way”.

However on Friday, a Downing Street spokesperson denied anyone at no 10 was aware of the recommendation.

Challenged about The Independent’s reporting, Downing Street said it did not “accept that a media inquiry is equivalent… No 10, as I say, repeatedly asked about the facts of this case from the Foreign Office, and were never told the UK security vetting had recommended.”

Downing Street have once again had to insist the prime minister will not resign over the latest Peter Mandelson revelations.

Asked on Friday whether Sir Keir Starmer will step down, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “No, and that you’ve heard the fact he wasn’t told about the fact that Peter Mandelson failed vetting when he was appointed was being staggering.”

Earlier, chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones said that his Labour colleagues are not reconsidering Sir Keir as their leader – despite yet more facts coming to light about Lord Peter Mandelson’s ill-considered appointment as US ambassador.

Nigel Farage has said he is “not surprised” Peter Mandelson failed security vetting.

“I’m not in the least bit surprised that he failed vetting,” he said.

“I mean think of the two reasons that he left cabinet, think of when he was European commissioner, the relationship with (Russian oligarch Oleg) Deripaska, aluminium tariffs, need I say more?”

He added: “The fact that it was ignored and that the prime minister knew what the vetting was, it once again casts further doubt on the judgement of the prime minister’.”

The case for Keir Starmer is that he misled the House of Commons – but he didn’t do so knowingly, because he didn’t know that Peter Mandelson had failed his security vetting.

Unless it can be shown that Starmer did know, therefore, he is not going to resign yet, despite demands from the excitable opposition parties.

But the spreading contagion from the decision to appoint Mandelson to Washington is going to continue to eat away at what is left of the prime minister’s reputation, and is likely to shorten his tenure of 10 Downing Street.

The latest twist in the Mandelson story has been brewing for some time. David Maddox, our political editor, reported in September last year, the day after Mandelson was sacked, that the new ambassador “did not pass MI6 vetting”.

When this was put to the prime minister’s spokesperson, the response was: “Vetting done by FCDO in normal way.”

It was not a denial – and was a line presumably provided to No 10 by the Foreign Office, but the significance was lost in the hue and cry over Mandelson’s departure.

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

The Liberal Democrats have formally reported Sir Keir Starmer to Sir Laurie Magnus for failing to notify Parliament as soon as he knew Lord Mandelson failed security vetting.

The Liberal Democrats’ report to ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus argues the Prime Minister has breached the Ministerial Code, which states that it is of “paramount importance” that Ministers give accurate information to Parliament and correct any errors “at the earliest opportunity”.

A government spokesperson confirmed this week that the Prime Minister was informed “earlier this week” that Lord Mandelson had actually failed security vetting.

The revelations about the vetting failure were reported late afternoon on Thursday.

The Liberal Democrats have pointed out that despite knowing Mandelson had failed vetting, the Prime Minister failed to update Parliament during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), choosing instead to withhold the information until it surfaced through the media.

The party’s Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart has written to Laurie Magnus to report the potential breach of ministerial code code.

Lisa Smart MP, Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office Spokesperson, said: “The Prime Minister failed to tell Parliament that he knew Mandelson had been denied vetting on Wednesday, presumably crossing his fingers and hoping the truth would not come out. What a shameful way for a Prime Minister to behave.

“To stand in front of the dispatch box and deny Parliament such crucial information looks like a serious breach of ministerial code. That’s why I’ve written to the ethics adviser to report this breach and ask him to investigate at the earliest opportunity.

“Starmer made catastrophic errors of judgment from the very beginning of the Mandelson scandal and it seems he has just kept on making them. His position is now untenable.”

Olly Robbins, the Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant, was sacked from his role yesterday following revelations about Lord Peter Mandelson’s vetting process.

The civil servant was appointed in January last year, a month after Mandelson’s appointment had been confirmed – but a month before he took up post.

It is understood that Sir Keir Starmer and foreign secretary Yvette Cooper have expressed a loss of confidence in Sir Olly, the permanent under-secretary.

Sir Olly came from a role in a global strategic advisory firm, where he was partner and head of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hakluyt.

He has previously worked at Goldman Sachs and also held senior leadership roles in the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, Downing Street and as the Second Permanent Secretary in the Home Office and Permanent Secretary in the Department for Exiting the European Union.

At the time of his appointment, David Lammy said: “I have set out from day one that I want to rewire the FCDO to act as the international delivery arm of this government’s missions, as well as devising our broader international strategy.

“Olly Robbins is exactly the person to help me deliver this and I am delighted to welcome him into the FCDO.”

The Independent’s Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin reports:

Maryam Eslamdoust, the general secretary of the Labour affiliated TSSA union, which represents transport and travel workers, said the party was “in danger of being irreversibly tainted by this latest instalment in the Mandelson scandal and Keir Starmer’s handling of it. As a party, we are losing the right to be heard on the doorstep when we are out campaigning for the elections.

“Keir Starmer’s claim that he knew nothing about Mandelson’s failed security clearance is a very hard sell to voters.It’s clearly not good enough, and at the very least, Keir has lost control by presiding over such reckless conduct. Labour needs a leadership contest.”

The Labour MP Jon Trickett also said: “It simply doesn’t sound credible for Keir Starmer to claim that he was unaware that Mandelson had been denied security clearance. If the PM did not know, it raises gravely serious issues about the way we are governed. Either way, the excuses coming from Downing Street won’t cut it on the doorstep in the run-up to the local elections.”

Keir Starmer has arrived at the Elysee Palace in Paris to meet Emmanuel Macron as the two leaders chair a meeting on opening the Strait of Hormuz.

With around 40 countries expected to join the summit, Starmer and Macron will address a “global responsibility” to open the Strait of Hormuz and support the fragile ceasefire in the region.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the prime minister is facing calls for him to resign over Peter Mandelson’s failed security vetting.

A Labour backbencher has said it “doesn’t sound credible” that Sir Keir Starmer was unaware Lord Peter Mandelson had failed his security vetting.

Veteran MP Jon Trickett said: “It simply doesn’t sound credible for Keir Starmer to claim that he was unaware that Mandelson had been denied security clearance.

“If the PM did not know, it raises gravely serious issues about the way we are governed.

“Either way, the excuses coming from Downing Street won’t cut it on the doorstep in the run-up to the local elections.”