Inquiries into who knew what, and when, will be pored over in coming weeks and could ultimately decide Starmer’s fate
W
hen the Guardian revealed that Peter Mandelson had failed his vetting checks before being appointed as British ambassador to Washington, members of Keir Starmer’s cabinet, who were scattered around the world on government business, were caught by the same element of surprise.
In Washington for the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, had just come out of a meeting with the Ukrainian finance minister when she was told the breaking news.
“I didn’t know anything about the vetting process,” she told reporters. “I’m the chancellor, I’m not the foreign secretary and I’m not 10 Downing Street, so I can’t give you any more information on that.”
