Sir Keir Starmer is facing questions over a second Labour grandee who was apparently allowed to take up a sensitive role without undergoing security checks first.
As the scandal over Peter Mandelson being made US Ambassador continues to engulf the Prime Minister, it emerged that Jonathan Powell appears to have begun work on the controversial Chagos surrender without being vetted.
Sir Keir announced in September 2024 that he had appointed Tony Blair's former chief of staff as his Special Envoy for negotiations with Mauritius over the sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
However Mr Powell was allowed to hold meetings with the Foreign Office the previous month and was given access to classified information including minutes of meetings involving the PM.
And now Sir Keir's former right-hand man has suggested that Mr Powell did not have Developed Vetting (DV) clearance at the time, as that process only began when he was subsequently appointed National Security Adviser in November.
It echoes the case of Lord Mandelson, who was allowed into the Foreign Office unaccompanied, given access to IT and 'secret' level information and wore a 'DV' pass before his clearance was approved.
Morgan McSweeney told the Foreign Affairs Committee in his evidence on the Mandelson affair: 'Around about the same time—and again I cannot remember the dates—we made a political appointment for National Security Adviser, in Jonathan Powell. As far as I remember, we appointed him and then we began the DV.'
In answer to another question during his appearance on Tuesday he admitted: 'Jonathan Powell got appointed, too, before the necessary work.'
Asked if he would have had DV when he took up the prior appointment as Chagos envoy, Mr McSweeney admitted: 'I don't know.'
On Wednesday night the PM was facing demands to reveal what access Mr Powell had to classified documents when he was discussing the future of the Chagos islands, home to the crucial US-UK Diego Garcia airbase.
There are also concerns that sensitive information may have been obtained by China as Mr Powell also had interests in the country at the time through his company Inter Mediate.
Ben Obese-Jecty, who has asked numerous questions in Parliament about Mr Powell's work, told the Daily Mail: 'The questions that still surround the appointment of Jonathan Powell as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to the Chagos Islands show that the Mandelson vetting scandal is just the latest in a systemic abuse of security clearances when it comes to jobs for the boys in Keir Starmer's chumocracy.
'The Prime Minister has played fast and loose with his ministerial appointments, putting the security of the country at risk. That his National Security Advisor potentially worked with sensitive information surrounding Diego Garcia for months before his appointment without the highest security clearance whilst separately conducting meetings in China must be investigated by Parliament.'
When the Tory MP had asked in Prime Minister's Questions last week what security clearance Mr Powell had when he was given the Chagos job, Sir Keir declined to answer and instead said: 'Let me say that Jonathan Powell is doing an excellent job for this Government. He is respected across the world, and is playing a significant part in dealing with the huge challenges that we face.'
Government sources insisted that Mr Powell had all the permissions he needed to act as Chagos negotiator.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said in a written answer last month: 'Mr Powell was appointed as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy in early August 2024. All information provided to him in that role was shared appropriately and in line with established procedures.'
Meanwhile No 10 has been unable to explain why there is no record of the fateful meeting in which Sir Keir decided to give Lord Mandelson the prestigious Washington DC posting.
A No 10 spokesman insisted the government was committed to 'full transparency' over the appointment and said a record of Sir Keir's decision was recorded in a letter sent to the Foreign Office on 18 December 2024, which was released in the first batch of Mandelson files.
Pressed on why there was no record or minutes of the meeting where the decision was taken, the spokesman said: 'Clearly there are lessons to be learned on the internal processes.'
A spokesman for Kemi Badenoch said she was 'astounded' by the claim that no records exist. He added: 'In her experience there is always a private secretary present to record decisions on government business - and the appointment of a US ambassador is very much government business.'
