Prime minister to deliver high-stakes statement to MPs over vetting controversy that has put his position in peril
Keir Starmer will deliver a high-stakes statement to MPs on Monday as he struggles to overcome fears inside his government that the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal could yet cost him his leadership.
In what is set to be a dramatic showdown, the prime minister will set out how Mandelson was able to take up his role as UK ambassador without the Foreign Office revealing it had overruled the decision to fail his vetting.
The scandal, first revealed by the Guardian last week, has already led to the sacking of the top civil servant at the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, who is expected to appear before MPs on Tuesday in what could be another moment of grave peril for Starmer.
Ministers spent the weekend trying to shore up Starmer’s position after opposition party leaders called for him to quit over the affair, arguing he would not have gone ahead with sending Mandelson to Washington had he known.
