Starmer would have blocked Mandelson over vetting failure, says Lammy
Deputy prime minister David Lammy said he was been “shocked and surprised” to hear about Mandelson's vetting failure
Sir Keir Starmer would have blocked the appointment of Lord Mandelson had he known he failed security vetting, claims Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy.
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The claim comes as the prime minister faces heat following the revelation that Mandelson was appointed despite security concerns.
Downing Street said red flags in the vetting process were not disclosed to them by the Foreign Office, leading to the appointment of Lord Mandelson to the role of UK Ambassador to the US.
"I have absolutely no doubt at all, knowing the PM as I do, that had he known that Peter Mandelson had not passed the vetting, he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador," said Mr Lammy.
Starmer is due to answer questions about the scandal in Parliament on Monday, after saying it was "staggering" that he had only been informed that Mandelson had failed securing vetting last Tuesday.
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Opposition parties have called on Sir Keir to resign, accusing him of misleading Parliament in previous statements which claimed that due process had been followed.
Mr Lammy, who was foreign secretary at the time of Mandelson's appointment, added that neither he nor his advisers had been told about the vetting process.
The Foreign Office's most senior civil servant, Sir Olly Robbins, also lost his job in the vetting row - which Mr Lammy said he was "surprised and shocked" to discover, as Sir Olly had only been in the job for a few weeks when the vetting report was returned.
He insisted neither he nor his advisers at the time had known about, or asked for information on, the vetting process or its conclusions.
Mr Lammy stressed that there were "time pressures" on the Foreign Office to have Mandelson in place shortly after Donald Trump's successful bid for the presidency.
Lammy's successor Yvette Cooper previously confirmed Mandelson's vetting was made a "priority clearance", but insisted full checks were still carried out.
She added that that much like the prime minister, she was unaware of the failings until this week.
Ms Cooper told the committee she had asked for a review of the information given to MPs to ensure accuracy, and said she was "extremely concerned" ministers were not told sooner about issues relating to Mandelson.
Such details are yet to be publicly disclosed.
Sir Olly is expected to be questioned by the Foreign Affairs Committee again on Tuesday.
Nick Dyer, who has held a number of other senior roles in government, had been asked to run the Foreign Office civil service on an interim basis according to Ms Cooper.