The under-fire Prime Minister will face a grilling from MPs on Monday after it emerged the former UK ambassador to Washington had failed UK Security vetting
Keir Starmer’s Cabinet allies have rallied to his defence as he faces a crunch Commons moment over the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal.
The under-fire Prime Minister will face a grilling from MPs on Monday after it emerged the former UK ambassador to Washington had failed UK Security vetting.
Last week, Mr Starmer sacked the Foreign Office boss Sir Olly Robins and said he was furious the department had kept No10 in the dark and gave Lord Mandelson clearance.
Liz Kendall told Sky News it was a “serious mistake” for the Foreign Office boss not to tell Mr Starmer or the then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy Lord Mandelson had failed vetting.
She also insisted the PM would have rescinded Lord Mandelson’s appointment, which had already been made public before the UK Security vetting process.
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Asked whether she still had confidence in Mr Starmer to lead the party into the next election, Ms Kendall replied: “100% because he is a man of guts, strength and courage”.
Citing the decision not to join the US-Israeli war with Iran, Ms Kendall went on: “The Prime Minister on the big calls facing this country has made the right calls.”
The Tech Secretary added: “It was wrong not to tell them he had not passed the UK Security Vetting. He would not have been appointed if he’d known that at the time.”
Deputy PM Mr Lammy also rallied to Mr Starmer’s defence, saying it was “inexplicable” Downing Street was kept in the dark that Lord Mandelson had failed vetting. The Justice Secretary told The Guardian: “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.
“The Prime Minister was not particularly close to Peter Mandelson. He hadn’t worked with him in the past, as some of us had. He was weighing a decision, but I’m quite sure had he known that, he would not have become ambassador. Therefore this is inexplicable.”
Their comments come as the dismissed Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins also prepares to face the Foreing Affairs Committe on Tuesday to give his side of the story.
Ex-permanent secretary at the Foreign Office Lord Simon McDonald claimed Sir Olly had “thrown under the bus” in the sacking by the Prime Minister.
Speaking to the BBC on Saturday, he said: “This story broke on Thursday morning in a piece in The Guardian – within the news cycle Olly Robbins had been required to resign.This shows to me that Number 10 wanted a scalp and they wanted it quickly and I cannot see that there was any process, any fairness, any giving him the chance to set out his case, and that feels to me wrong.”