LONDON — Keir Starmer’s government was thrown into fresh crisis Thursday after it emerged Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting but was appointed U.K. ambassador to the U.S. anyway.
Mandelson — who was later sacked from the top diplomat role over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — was given the green light to take up the Washington post by Foreign Office officials against the advice of the government’s screening agency, United Kingdom Security Vetting.
“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,” a U.K. government spokesperson said Thursday after the Guardian newspaper first reported the vetting failure.
The development will renew questions about Starmer’s judgment in appointing Mandelson to the diplomatic post, with opposition parties already accusing the prime minister of being misleading. Starmer had earlier told members of parliament that “full due process” was followed during the appointment.
Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch seized on that comment on Thursday, saying Starmer should resign if he misled parliament. “If Mandelson failed the security vetting, full process was not followed. Misleading Parliament is a resigning offense,” she added.
Earlier this year MPs passed a motion requiring that documents on how Mandelson was appointed be handed over to the U.K. parliament after revelations in the Epstein files.
The government said it had obtained the UK Security Vetting information while they were compiling information to comply with the parliamentary motion.
“Once the Prime Minister was informed he immediately instructed officials to establish the facts about why the Developed Vetting was granted, in order to enact plans to update the House of Commons,” the U.K. government spokesperson said Thursday.
Starmer, struggling in the polls, is already grappling with unpopularity among his own MPs, although no clear leadership challenger has emerged.
Labour MPs who had been pleased with Starmer’s current approach to the Iran war were left agog at the latest claims.
“All we want is the truth,” Rachael Maskell told POLITICO. “Now a different account of Mr. Mandelson’s security clearance has been brought to light we need accountability as to why we were provided a different version of events.”
Emilio Casalicchio contributed to this report.
No. 10 denies Starmer knew Mandelson had failed security vetting
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