𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

FOR once, Sir Keir Starmer got it right. The Prime Minister admitted the whole sorry saga surrounding Peter Mandelson’s appointment and sacking as US ambassador “beggars belief”.

Sir Keir uttered the immortal line as he desperately scrambled to contain the deepening row which has left his premiership teetering on the brink. Long time leadership rival Angela Rayner is expected to twist the knife further on Tuesday, using a speech to demand “bolder action” from the government on how it is serving the British people. It comes just days after reports that Ms Rayner – sacked last year over a tax scandal – held a secret meeting with Andy Burnham at the weekend amid rumours of a plot to oust the Prime Minister.

Sir Keir has been left hugely weakened by the Mandelson scandal with many in Westminster expecting there will be a move against him after May’s elections in which Labour could face historic defeats.

In an explosive day in Westminster on Monday, MPs took pot shots at the Prime Minister’s animosity over his decision to give Lord Mandelson the top diplomatic job, even though he failed security vetting, boiled over.

Provoking incredulity in a feisty Commons, Sir Keir told MPs it was “frankly staggering” that he was not told the Labour grandee had not passed checks and acknowledged Parliament should have known about it “a long time ago”.

The Prime Minister repeatedly insisted he only found out last Tuesday that UK Security Vetting (UKSV), the agency responsible for conducting assessments, had declined to give Mandelson vetting clearance.

He said: “A deliberate decision was taken to withhold that material from me…this was not a lack of asking. It wasn’t an oversight. It was a decision taken not to share that information on repeated occasions.”

And he was met with loud derision when he admitted that the whole debacle sounds like a fantasy.

“I know many members across the House will find these facts to be incredible, and to that I can only say that they are right,” he told the commons.

“It beggars belief that throughout the whole timeline of events, officials in the Foreign Office saw fit to withhold this information from the most senior ministers in our system of government.

“That is not how the vast majority of people in this country expects politics, government or accountability to work, and I do not think it’s how most public servants think it should work.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the Prime Minister of breaching the ministerial code by waiting nearly a week to come to the Commons with information about Lord Peter Mandelson failing his security vetting.

Mrs Badenoch, who has previously accused Sir Keir of lying, said: “At every turn with every explanation, the Government’s story has become murkier and more contradictory. It is time for the truth.”

In a volatile session, Reform UK’s straight-talker Lee Anderson was kicked out of the chamber for accusing Sir Keir of lying.

House of Commons’ rules prevent MPs from accusing one another of telling lies, or deliberately misleading one another, so Mr Anderson was asked by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to withdraw his comments.

The MP for Ashfield replied bluntly: “Mr Speaker, I have the greatest respect for you and your office, but I will not withdraw it. That man couldn’t lie straight in bed.”

Your Party MP Zarah Sultana was suspended from parliament for refusing to leave after calling the PM liar.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey urged the Prime Minister to resign, telling MPs “the only decent thing” for Sir Keir Starmer to do “is to take responsibility”.

Labour MPs also joined the assault, as Dame Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “Doesn’t this look like for certain members of the Prime minister’s team, getting Peter Mandelson the job was a priority that overrode everything else, and that security considerations were very much second order.”

Veteran MP Diane Abbott, said Peter Mandelson “has a history” after resigning twice as a member of the Cabinet. Mocking Sir Keir, she asked: “It’s one thing to say nobody told me, nobody told me anything, nobody told me. The question is, why didn’t the Prime Minister ask?”

And Karl Turner, also an independent MP after being suspended by Sir Keir from the Labour group in Parliament, said: “Trust in the Prime Minister and in politics is diminishing as this sorry saga continues.”
The Prime Minister blamed Foreign Office officials who had approved Lord Mandelson’s developed vetting status, allowing him to see secret information as ambassador to the US, despite the recommendation of security experts not to grant clearance.
Sir Keir said he would not have proceeded with the appointment if he had known UKSV, the agency responsible for conducting assessments, had declined to approve the peer.
The Prime Minister fired the Foreign Office’s top civil servant Sir Olly Robbins after finding out last week that Lord Mandelson’s vetting status had been granted despite failing the UKSV check.
Sir Keir said: “At the heart of this, there is also a judgment I made that was wrong. I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson.
“I take responsibility for that decision, and I apologise again to the victims of the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who were clearly failed by my decision.”
Sir Olly will be grilled by MPs on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee today (TUES).
MPs could debate his replies after Mrs Badenoch applied for an emergency debate on the issue.
Lord Mandelson was sacked in September last year after revelations about the extent of his relationship with Epstein.
Sir Keir has faced growing calls to resign over his handling of the scandal, which has erupted again just weeks before local elections which are set to be a bloodbath for Labour.