Politics Home | Keir Starmer Says It “Beggars Belief” Officials Withheld Information Over Peter Mandelson

(Alamy)

2 min read18 min

The Prime Minister addressed MPs in the House of Commons on Monday after it came to light that Mandelson was appointed as US ambassador despite serious security concerns and failing vetting checks. 

It has also emerged that the single biggest client of Mandelson’s ex-lobbying firm Global Counsel was linked to the Chinese army. Downing Street has said security concerns and vetting failures were not raised with them after Mandelson was appointed. 

Starmer told MPs it was “astonishing” neither he nor his cabinet were informed about Mandelson prior to securing the job.

Starmer told the Commons: “I know many members across the House will find these facts to be incredible.”

“To that, I can only say they are right. It beggars belief that throughout the whole timeline of events, officials in the Foreign Office saw fit to withhold this information from the most senior ministers in our system in government.

“That is not how the vast majority of people in this country expect politics, government or accountability to work.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the prime minister of throwing “his officials and his staff under the bus” to save his job. Badenoch claimed she was holding the Prime Minister to the same standards Starmer had held Boris Johnson when he was the opposition leader during the Partygate scandal.

Badenoch also said Starmer’s “reputation” was “at stake”.

Starmer reiterated the claims that the Mandelson case “could and should have been shared with me before he took up his post.”

He added: “If I had known before he took up his post that UKSV recommendation was that developed vetting clearance should be denied, I would not have gone ahead with the appointment.”

Foreign affairs committee chair Emily Thornberry asked whether ensuring Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador was a priority which overrode anything else, including security implications.

Starmer said the committee asked the relevant questions during evidence sessions, but said he would not have appointed him if concerns were raised with him.

Starmer responded: “If I had been told Peter Mandelson or anybody else had failed security, not given clearance on security vetting, I would not have appointed them.

“A deliberate decision was taken to withhold that material. This was not a lack of asking, this wasn’t an oversight. It was a decision taken not to share that information on repeated occasions.”

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson was removed from the chamber after using unparliamentary language, claiming the Prime Minister could not “lie straight in bed”.