𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Sir Keir Starmer is “furious with the state” because the Foreign Office was able to overrule the vetting process for Lord Peter Mandelson, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister has said.

Darren Jones said he had ordered an urgent review after discovering that the Foreign Office and other Government departments the right to ignore security advice when appointing people to sensitive roles.

He told Sky News: “It is utterly unacceptable, not just in the individual case of Peter Mandelson and respect of the Prime Minister’s fury at the Foreign Office for not having taught him this information, but the very fact that their processes were in place that allow for that to happen in the first place.

“That’s why in my role in the Cabinet Office, immediately last night, I suspended the rights for these organisations to make these judgments.

“I’ve asked for an urgent review about what decisions these organisations have taken in the past to overrule the recommendations from UK security vetting, and I was due to announce a broader, independent review of the vetting process anyway. And this will now be part of that.”