(FILES) Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds a meeting to discuss the US-Israeli conflict with Iran and the impact on the Strait of Hormuz, inside 10 Downing Street in London on March 30, 2026. Embattled British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said April, 17 2026, it was “unforgivable” and “unacceptable” he was not told that Peter Mandelson, his sacked envoy to Washington, had failed security vetting. “I was not told that he had failed security vetting. No minister was told that he’d failed security vetting… that is completely unacceptable,” he said during an unrelated visit to Paris. (Photo by Jaimi Joy / POOL / AFP via Getty Images) Credit: AFPSIR Keir Starmer is protesting his ignorance in the Peter Mandelson scandal as a collapse in public trust puts his premiership in further peril.
The PM today claimed to be “absolutely furious” not to have been informed that but given the job anyway.
A snap YouGov poll shows just 16 per cent of the public believe Sir Keir has been honest over the Mandelson scandal Credit: AFP
The PM will face probing MPs next Monday when he has pledged to give a full statement to the Commons on the saga Credit: Reuters
He said it was “unforgiveable” that officials kept him in the dark and approved the clearance unilaterally and published documents to show he was none the wiser.
But a bitter blame game has erupted as allies of the sacked Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins picked apart his version of events.
A snap YouGov poll shows just 16 per cent of the public believe has been honest over the scandal.
And said: “It doesn’t matter which of these stories the Prime Minister has told us, he has lied, and that is resignation time.
“It is utterly preposterous that throughout this period the Prime Minister did not know that Mandelson failed his security vetting.”
No10 has published the minutes of a meeting on Tuesday night where Sir Keir and his aides were first told that Mandelson failed security vetting prior to his appointment.
The civil service readout said: “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 PM will face probing MPs next Monday when he has pledged to give a full statement to the Commons on the saga.
Several questions remained unanswered, including why No10 did not act on press reports last year that claimed Mandelson’s security clearance had been originally rejected.
The row has reignited anger over his appointment of Jeffrey Epstein’s pal to be ambassador and once again put the PM’s premiership on the line.
A senior Cabinet Minister was even forced to allay fears by saying that the PM wouldn’t be stepping down after one union boss called for a leadership contest.
Sir Olly has also been asked to face a Parliament grilling after being fired by Sir Keir for failing to disclose that he had overruled the advice from vetting officials.
The row has reignited anger over his appointment of Jeffrey Epstein’s Labour pal to be US ambassador and once again put the PM’s premiership on the line Credit: Alamy
Friends of the axed mandarin have claimed he was a scapegoat and bitten back at No10 for throwing him under the bus.
Ciaran Martin, a former senior civil servant said he could not understand the sacking because ministers are “never” told the details of vetting assessments.
He said: “There’s no abuse of process, there’s no failure of process. Not only is there no duty to disclose the details of a vetting case, there is a duty not to disclose them.”
But the PM’s allies said this proves Sir Keir’s story that he was not told, yet insisted Sir Olly could have informed the PM without revealing the precise details why Mandelson was denied clearance.
It is not clear if Sir Olly is in line for a bumper exit payout, or whether he will take action against his dismissal.
The PM, speaking in Paris at a summit on Iran, said: “That I wasn’t told that Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting when he was appointed is staggering.
“That I wasn’t told that he had failed security vetting when I was telling Parliament that due process had been followed is unforgivable.
“Not only was I not told, no minister was told, and I’m absolutely furious about that.”
A spokesman for the PM said: “He’s very clear that Parliament had a right to know this, and indeed that he had a right to know this.
“And that it’s completely staggering that UK Security Vetting recommended against the developed vetting security clearance for Peter Mandelson and that he was not told, the Foreign Secretary was not told and as a result Parliament was not told.”
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the PM, said Sir Keir had not lied to the Commons and was not considering his position as a result of the outrage.
But he conceded that it comes at one of the most dangerous moments since he came to office in July 2024.
Mr Jones said that “it’s of a scale of a problem that we’ve not experienced in government before”.
Maryam Eslamdoust, boss of the TSSA transport union, said: “Labour is in danger of being irreversibly tainted by this latest instalment in the Mandelson scandal and Keir Starmer’s handling of it. “
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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