Cabinet minister grilled over fears of unvetted staff after Mandelson scandal

Cabinet minister Nick Thomas-Symonds faced a grilling from Victoria Derbyshire over fears of unvetted staff inside the government following the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal. Appearing on BBC Newsnight on Monday (20 April), Mr Thomas-Symonds said he would “sincerely hope” no other people are working for the government without obtaining UK security vetting clearance, adding that the government will “absolutely” find out if there are. It comes after Sir Keir Starmer said he would not have appointed Lord Mandelson as US ambassador if he had known the peer had failed security vetting. Questions have been raised about the extent of knowledge within Downing Street, after it was revealed that The Independent had made No 10 aware of claims Mandelson had failed vetting last September.

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