It’s always the cover-up that gets you in the end.
Late on Thursday, No 10 moved to protect Sir Keir Starmer by saying a decision to ignore a recommendation that Peter Mandelson had not passed vetting was ignored by civil servants in the Foreign Office – and them alone.
No 10 is effectively throwing the Foreign Office’s Permanent Secretary Olly Robbins under the bus.
The idea that Mandelson failed his security vetting clearance, but that the decision was overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post as ambassador to the US, poses more questions than it answers.
If true, why did Robbins take it upon himself to not raise the vetting committee’s conclusion with Starmer’s No 10? Was Robbins even aware of the decision taken by one of his security directors? If not, what does that say about due processes in the Foreign Office?
Robbins was certainly circumspect when he spoke to the Foreign Affairs Committee about the matter when he wrote to them in September and then appeared in front of them in November. No mention at all that the vetting service had rejected Mandelson and a decision had been taken to ignore them.
And if any of Starmer’s key aides, such as former Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney or former Principal Private Secretary Nin Pandit, had been told, why did they not raise it with Starmer himself – the so-called “appointing minister” who was ultimately in charge of the nomination?
Did the Foreign Office, under pressure from No 10 to get the appointment done and dusted, have a collective bout of brushing concerns under the carpet? We know that the vetting was rushed. Why didn’t civil servants, knowing what Mandelson was like, give themselves the political cover by making No 10 aware of the concerns and make it their problem?
And in the intervening period why did nobody ‘fess up and tell the foreign secretary and prime minister what had happened? Starmer is now charged with that greatest political crime of all – misleading the House of Commons – because of the sin of omission.
Starmer had plenty of chances – including when Parliament was debating whether to publish the Mandelson papers in February – to correct the record. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are calling for his head.
And there is one further mystery. The i Paper understands the Intelligence and Security Committee has not been handed the documents relating to Mandelson’s failure to secure vetting approval even though MPs had been assured all paperwork relevant to his appointment has been handed over by the Government.
The committee, which was instructed by the House of Commons to examine documents which cannot be made public, is still awaiting documents relating to his time in Washington.
Who has been sitting on this red-hot document hoping it won’t come to light? Who has also been effectively misleading the House of Commons?
There are more questions than answers. Starmer will need to get out there and start answering them. Pronto.
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