Cliff Notes
- Downing Street maintains that processes were followed in Peter Mandelson’s appointment despite security service concerns, raising questions about accountability.
- An opaque chain of events regarding Mandelson’s vetting has surfaced, suggesting a lack of transparency and due diligence from Number 10.
- The fallout from this situation could be significant for Keir Starmer, as he faces scrutiny for retaining allies with controversial pasts shortly before their dismissals.
There is a witch-hunt vibe in Labour on how and who approved Peter Mandelson’s appointment | Politics News
The question being asked everywhere today is “how did it happen”? Because the vibe out of Downing Street this morning seems to be that nobody anywhere did anything wrong, processes were followed, and everything went by the book.
But can they really, honestly, believe that?
To recap, the reason that everyone is asking is to try and discern whether the failings are a consequence of a fundamental, unfixable flaw at the heart of Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Starmer ‘very vulnerable’ following Mandelson revelations
Yesterday, we revealed that the security services had raised red flags about the appointment of Peter Mandelson, yet Number 10 went ahead.
The story was nuanced. We did not say that Peter Mandelson had failed a deep vetting, just that concerns were relayed and the appointment went ahead.
We put the story to Downing Street, and – being candid – I did not understand what their official response meant, beyond it quite obviously not being a denial.
As a response, Number 10 said to us that the security vetting process is all done at a department level – with no Number 10 involvement.
To a wider group of political journalists, an hour and a half after we aired the story, Number 10 said they were “not involved in the security vetting process. This is managed at the departmental level”.
Today, the line from Downing Street seems to be that there was no official level block on the appointment, so it went ahead.
Although The Times has reports from allies of Lord Mandelson claiming he disclosed everything, the exact chain of events remains opaque.