Keir Starmer was “not aware” the UK Foreign Office had granted Peter Mandelson vetting clearance to become US ambassador despite a recommendation against it until a meeting on Tuesday night, according to a document Downing Street has released.
The memo of a meeting between the country’s most senior civil servants appeared to add credence to the UK prime minister’s defence that Foreign Office (FCDO) officials were responsible for clearing Mandelson’s appointment without his knowledge, and that he was informed of this on Tuesday evening.
But its publication by the UK government came as the Guardian reported two of those present at Tuesday’s meeting, Cabinet secretary Antonia Romeo, and Cabinet Office permanent secretary Catherine Little, had known since March about sensitive information linked to Mandelson’s vetting.
The prime minister on Friday said he was “absolutely furious” and it was “staggering” that he had not been informed the vetting process was overruled to clear Lord Mandelson for the high-profile Washington posting.
The Foreign Office’s chief civil servant Olly Robbins was sacked on Thursday night after the prime minister and foreign secretary Yvette Cooper lost confidence in him over the scandal.
The “readout” of a Tuesday meeting, published by Downing Street on Friday night, appeared to back up the Guardian’s reporting that Romeo and Little knew about the vetting being overruled some time before Starmer.
The email read: “As part of the humble address process, that file had been shared with Cat (Catherine Little). On reviewing the file she had therefore learned that the recommendation from the vetting officer had been that DV (Developed Vetting) should not be granted to Peter Mandelson.”
The Commons voted in favour of a humble address motion to release all files related to Mandelson’s appointment on February 4th, suggesting Little found out about the latest revelations some time after this, and before Tuesday’s meeting when Starmer was informed.
The readout, which took the form of an email sent by Starmer’s principal private secretary Dan York-Smith on Wednesday, also said: “There is some discretion for departments to proceed with clearance and the FCDO had exercised it in this case, granting Mandelson vetting clearance.
“Cat had not seen the audit trail for this decision so we did not yet know on what basis the decision had been taken, contrary to the recommendation.
“The PM was not aware of any of this before the meeting, including that it was even possible to grant clearance against the advice of UKSV.”
The Cabinet Office however denied that its most senior civil servant Little had sat on important information.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “As part of the Government’s commitment to comply fully with the Humble Address, the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office requested the vetting summary document.
“Once she received this document, the Cabinet Office immediately undertook a series of expedited checks in order to be in a sound position to share the document, or the fact of it.
“This included detailed legal advice on what information could be shared further in the context of the Humble Address, including from the First Treasury Counsel; consideration of whether sharing the information would prejudice criminal proceedings; and seeking information from the Foreign Office about the process they had followed which led to Peter Mandelson being given Developed Vetting clearance against the recommendation of UK Security Vetting.
“As soon as these checks were conducted, the Prime Minister was informed.”
Also released by No 10 on Friday night was a blank template copy of the form used to officially show whether someone has cleared the developed vetting process undertaken by UKSV.
The completed version of the form related to Mandelson will be given to a select group of MPs and peers, the Intelligence and Security Committee, to scrutinise as part of the humble address document dump which Parliament voted for.
The latest revelations about Mandelson’s appointment are heaping pressure on Starmer, amid Labour’s poll ratings plummeting and the prospect of heavy losses in May’s elections in Scotland, Wales and English councils.
Mandelson, a political appointment rather than a career diplomat, was sacked from his Washington role last September when more details emerged about his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019.
World
Why is Starmer facing fresh calls to quit over Mandelson vetting?
Starmer was already under fire over the decision to give Mandelson the job, despite it being known that his dealings with Epstein continued after the financier’s conviction for child sex offences.
Questions over his judgment intensified after the first batch of documents related to the decision, published last month, showed Starmer was warned before announcing Mandelson’s ambassadorship of a “general reputational risk” over his association with Epstein.
That warning stemmed from the first part of the checks, carried out by the Cabinet Office, which was based on information in the public domain at the time.
