Starmer 'would not have appointed Peter Mandelson' had he known of vetting failure - as PM faces calls to step down
The Prime Minister said it was "staggering" he was never informed of US ambassador's security clearance failure - as he proposed stripping the Foreign Office of powers to overrule vetting
Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he 'should not have appointed Peter Mandelson' as the UK's ambassador to the US - as he announced he is stripping the Foreign Office of the power to overrule vetting findings.
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Speaking in the Commons for the first time since it emerged that former Lord Peter Mandelson had failed his security vetting, the Prime Minister said he was "frankly staggered" that he was never informed the disgraced peer had failed his security vetting.
The PM went on to claim that he has always followed proper procedure and only found out last Tuesday that Mandelson had failed - a decision that was ultimately overruled, Starmer insisted.
Sir Keir told MPs: "I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson. I take responsibility for that decision. And I apologise, again to the victims of the paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, who were clearly failed by my decision."
Peter Mandelson failed vetting checks carried out by quango, UK Security Vetting (UKSV) on behalf of the Foreign Office, which were carried out between 23 December 2024 and 28 January 2025.
No 10 has insisted red flags were not disclosed by the Foreign Office, with Sir Keir blaming officials for not passing on this information to him when he was telling MPs that “full due process” was followed.
The PM is now battling to save his job in the wake of the scandal.
Read more: Starmer admits he 'inadvertently' misled Parliament over Mandelson's appointment
Read more: Starmer faces Commons showdown over Mandelson vetting scandal
Speaking to MPs on Monday, Sir Keir said he immediately instructed officials to establish the facts of who made the decision, on what basis and who knew about it, after discovering the revelation.
“This is information I should have had a long time ago and information this House should have had a long time ago," he told MPs.
He also said it "beggars belief" that the cabinet secretary - the most senior civil servant in the UK -was never told that Mandelson failed those checks.
"I do not accept that the then-cabinet secretary could not have been told in September 2025 when he carried out his review into the process.
“I do not accept that the Foreign Secretary could not have been told when making statements to the select committee, again in 2025.
“But on top of that the fact that I was not told even when I ordered a review of the UKSV process, is frankly staggering, and I can tell the House that I’ve now updated the terms of reference for the review into security vetting to make sure it covers the means by which all decisions are made in relation to national security vetting.”
He also took aim at Sir Olly Robbins - the former permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, who Sir Keir effectively sacked last week after the information allegedly first came to his attention.
Robbins is set to be grilled by the Foreign Affairs committee on Tuesday morning, with his allies insisting that under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, national security vetting is legally independent of ministers.
Put simply, this means that the senior civil servant was unable to alert the PM or ministers due to internal processes.
But Sir Keir said: "There is no law that stops civil servants sensibly flagging UKSV recommendations, while protecting detailed sensitive vetting information to allow ministers to make judgements on appointments or on explaining matters to parliament."
The Prime Minister also announced he has updated the terms of a probe into Government security vetting in light of the latest revelations, and has appointed Sir Adrian Fulford, a senior judge and chair of the Southport Inquiry, to lead the review.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused the Prime Minister of breaching the ministerial code by waiting nearly a week to come to the Commons with information about Lord Peter Mandelson failing his security vetting.
Mrs Badenoch said: “His reputation is at stake. Everyone is watching. It is finally time for the truth.”Arguing that Sir Keir Starmer inadvertently misled the House, she said: “I will remind him that, under the ministerial code, he has a duty to correct the record at the earliest opportunity.
“The Prime Minister says he only found out on Tuesday that Peter Mandelson failed the security vetting. The earliest opportunity to correct the record was Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, almost a week ago. This is a breach of the ministerial code.”
Sir Keir replied: “When I found out what had happened on Tuesday evening last, I wanted to have answers to the question: who made the decision to recommend to give clearance on developed vetting, contrary to the advice, why that was done and who knew about it, so I could provide the information to the House.
“That is the exercise that’s been conducted since Tuesday evening and today, so that I could come here today to give the full account to the House, which I’ve just set out.”