Keir Starmer details vetting procedure overruled by the FCDO and culminated in his decision to appoint Mandelson
In a pivotal Commons statement to MPs on Monday, Keir Starmer laid out the most detailed timeline of Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK ambassador to the US, the vetting process that ended with the Foreign Office overruling the UK Security Vetting (UKSV) and what he said were chances to tell him that civil servants had failed to take.
Cabinet Office conducts a due diligence exercise on how suitable Mandelson was for the role. Starmer told the Commons his No 10 staff put questions to Mandelson on the department’s behalf.
Mandelson responded to questions from the Cabinet Office’s due diligence exercise, posed to him by Downing Street staff, Starmer told MPs in the Commons.
“I made the decision to appoint him,” Starmer told MPs, after receiving final advice on the due diligence process on 11 December 2024.
