Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has said Sir Keir Starmer would have blocked Peter Mandelson from becoming UK ambassador to the US had he known about a security vetting failure. In his first public comments on the affair, Lammy described as 'inexplicable' the decision by former top civil servant Oliver Robbins to keep Downing Street in the dark over the outcome.
Lammy said he was 'shocked and surprised' when he learned of the vetting issue last week, but insisted neither he nor his advisers had known about or asked for information on the process. Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper have also said they were unaware until this week. Lammy stated: '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 deputy prime minister acknowledged 'some time pressures' on the Foreign Office last January to confirm Mandelson in post as Donald Trump re-entered the White House. He recalled: 'There was a feeling that obviously Trump had won the election in November, he was moving into the White House, and it would be good if we had an ambassador. So there were some time pressures around that I recall at the time.'
Lammy revealed he was on a military flight back from the Middle East when summoned to the cockpit for an urgent call from No 10. 'That obviously felt dramatic and serious and unexpected,' he said. 'That was the first time I had heard this.' He added that in his years in government, no official had ever spoken to him about vetting details.
The Foreign Affairs Committee published correspondence from Yvette Cooper stating she had required a full review of information given to the committee on the security vetting process. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called for full transparency, urging Starmer to publish the initial due diligence report on Mandelson. Lammy suggested next month's local elections would be tough for Labour even before the row.
