Opposition parties call for Starmer to go over news that the Foreign Office overruled a decision not to clear the former minister for the US ambassador role
With the prime minister in Paris for talks on the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, his chief secretary, Darren Jones, has been taking flak for the Mandelson vetting revelations on the morning media rounds.
Jones has told broadcasters the Foreign Office’s decision to overrule the security vetting findings was “utterly unacceptable”
It is utterly unacceptable, not just in the individual case of Peter Mandelson and respect of the Prime Minister’s fury at the Foreign Office for not having taught him this information, but the very fact that their processes were in place that allow for that to happen in the first place.
That’s why in my role in the Cabinet Office, immediately last night, I suspended the rights for these organisations to make these judgments.
As soon as I found out last night that the Foreign Office and a small number of other organisations have the right to ignore the recommendation… I immediately suspended those rights and ordered an urgent audit.
Yesterday evening, the Guardian exclusively revealed Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting clearance but the decision was overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post as ambassador to the US. According to multiple sources, Mandelson was initially denied clearance in late January 2025 after a developed vetting process, a highly confidential background check by security officials. Keir Starmer had by then announced he would be making Mandelson the UK’s chief diplomat in Washington, posing a dilemma for officials at the Foreign Office, who decided to use a rarely used authority to override the recommendation from security officials.
The Guardian also revealed that senior government officials have been considering whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents that show Mandelson failed the security vetting checks. Any such decision could amount to an extraordinary breach of a parliamentary vote, known as a humble address, that ordered the release of “all papers” relevant to Mandelson’s appointment. According to multiple sources, officials across government have been in dispute over whether to release documents that would reveal those facts, and other information about Mandelson’s security vetting, to the parliamentary intelligence and security committee (ISC).
The Guardian understands that Starmer – who insiders said was furious – first learned that Mandelson had failed security vetting on Tuesday this week, while then foreign secretary David Lammy learned about it when the Guardian broke the story two days later. Late on Thursday, Sir Olly Robbins, the UK Foreign Office’s top civil servant, has been forced out of his post over the decision. Robbins was the Foreign Office’s most senior official in late January 2025 when the decision was made, paving the way for Mandelson to become the US ambassador.
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