Sir Keir Starmer faces the toughest 48 hours of his premiership as controversy deepens over the handling of Peter Mandelson's failed security vetting. On Monday the prime minister will seek to convince the Commons he was unaware that UK Security Vetting had advised against granting Lord Mandelson clearance as ambassador to the US. On Tuesday, Sir Olly Robbins, the sacked Foreign Office permanent secretary, will appear before a powerful group of MPs to explain his department's role.
Downing Street has insisted the prime minister only learned on Tuesday that Lord Mandelson had been cleared despite security officials' objections, with Sir Keir describing the failure to inform him as “staggering”. In a statement on Sunday evening, No 10 claimed there was no legal barrier to sharing information in such a scenario, but the explanation has met with scepticism from across the political spectrum.
The controversy hinges on a WhatsApp exchange between The Independent and Tim Allan, then No 10's director of communications, from last September. When asked about claims that Lord Mandelson had not cleared vetting, Mr Allan responded that “vetting was done by FCDO in the normal way”. The exchange has been described by former foreign secretary Sir James Cleverly as “the smoking gun which shows the prime minister may not be telling the truth”. Green Party leader Zack Polanski called it “as close to a smoking gun as we're going to get”.
Senior former civil servants have rallied behind Sir Olly, with ex-foreign office permanent secretary Simon McDonald and former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara arguing he was “thrown under a bus” to protect the prime minister. Sir Olly's allies say he is furious about his dismissal and has taken legal advice, and they believe he could undermine the prime minister's version of events.
On Sunday, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, appearing on Sky News with Sir Trevor Phillips, declined to answer questions about the WhatsApp exchange, saying “all ministers were told was that [Mandelson] had got developed vetting status”. Former Downing Street adviser Robert Midgley said information of that kind “only travels upwards”, adding: “It's impossible Starmer did not know about it.”
