Prime Minister Keir Starmer will deliver a high-stakes statement to MPs on Monday as he struggles to overcome fears inside his government that the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal could cost him his leadership. The scandal, first revealed by the Guardian last week, has already led to the sacking of the top civil servant at the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins.
In what is set to be a dramatic showdown, Starmer will set out how Mandelson was able to take up his role as UK ambassador without the Foreign Office revealing it had overruled the decision to fail his vetting. Ministers spent the weekend trying to shore up Starmer’s position after opposition party leaders called for him to quit over the affair.
Senior government figures are concerned that this week could be make-or-break for the prime minister if more damaging information emerges or if sceptical Labour MPs lose faith. Starmer said on Sunday he would make it “crystal clear” to MPs he had been in the dark over Mandelson’s vetting, and called it “unforgivable” that the Foreign Office failed to tell him after he had told MPs due process had been followed.
Downing Street also sought to demolish the argument from Robbins’s allies that he was prevented by law from telling ministers about the failed vetting, publishing an explanatory document stating that no law stops civil servants flagging security vetting recommendations. Robbins is understood to be taking legal advice after his sacking and is determined to put his side of the story when he appears before MPs on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told the Guardian that voters wanted stability, not a self-flagellating party, and dismissed speculation about a leadership contest after expected poor local election results for Labour in May. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall insisted Starmer had not gambled with national security by appointing Mandelson.
