Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under pressure to resign over the vetting process for his appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. Mandelson was later sacked over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer has said that it’s “unforgivable” and “staggering” he wasn’t told Mandelson was denied security clearance and that decision was overturned by the Foreign Office.
The Prime Minister said he was “absolutely furious”. “I was not told that he had failed security vetting, no minister was told… Number 10 wasn’t told, that is completely unacceptable,” he told broadcasters.
Criticising officials, the PM said, “It is totally unacceptable that the Prime Minister making an appointment is not told that security vetting has been failed.”
Opposition leaders are calling for Starmer to resign, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch saying the PM’s position is “untenable”. Badenoch said she was “demanding that the Government publish all documents” relating to the appointment of Lord Mandelson. “There can be no more cover up, no more excuses, no more delays.”
She said she’s “considering every parliamentary option” in deciding what to do next, but that she doesn’t have enough MPs to win a confidence vote against Starmer.
Meanwhile, Olly Robbins, the UK Foreign Office’s top civil servant, has been forced out of his post after the decision to fail Mandelson during his security vetting was overruled by his department.
According to The Guardian, Robbins was told he had to resign after Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper lost confidence in the civil servant.
