Sir Keir Starmer is to face another bruising day in Parliament over the scandal surrounding Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.
Sir Olly Robbins will have a chance to respond to the Prime Minister, who blamed the sacked senior civil servant for “deliberately” keeping him in the dark over Lord Mandelson’s failure to pass security vetting checks before taking the Washington DC posting.
The House of Commons will subject the Prime Minister’s latest efforts to lay out the facts of the scandal to further scrutiny on Tuesday, as MPs hold an emergency debate on Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has weighed in on the scandal overnight, saying he agrees Mandelson was a “really bad pick” for ambassador. “Plenty of time to recover, however!”
Follow The i Paper’s live blog for the latest updates.
Analysis: Robbins will present his defence – after Starmer set out case for the prosecution Sort: Newest first Oldest first April 21, 2026 8:17 amMandelson ‘should never have been appointed’, Cabinet minister says
The Energy Secretary said Mandelson should never have been appointed over his known links with Jeffrey Epstein, his lobbying work and his record of being sacked twice from government.
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband arrives in Downing Street to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting (Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Asked if Sir Keir Starmer should lose his job, he said: “I don’t think so, no. Obviously I don’t.
Miliband added that he “steered well clear of Peter Mandelson when I became Labour leader in 2010”.
He added: “I had a conversation with David Lammy about it before the appointment and I said I was worried about it … I think he was worried about it too.”
April 21, 2026 8:06 am‘Prime ministers make mistakes,’ Ed Miliband says
The Energy Secretary told the BBC: “You’re asking me should Keir Starmer resign over the appointment of Lord Mandelson? And I’m saying to you, no, I don’t think he should.
“Prime ministers make mistakes.
Miliband told the broadcaster he had not spoken to Starmer directly about appointing Mandelson.
“Maybe I wasn’t the person that people would necessarily ask, I think people knew my view on Peter Mandelson.”
April 21, 2026 7:58 amAnalysis: Robbins will present his defence – after Starmer set out case for the prosecution
Jane MerrickPolicy EditorWhen he appears before the Foreign Affairs Committee today, Sir Olly Robbins, sacked by the PM last week as Foreign Office permanent secretary, will present his defence.
Starmer insists he has not misled Parliament and, had he known Mandelson had not been given the all-clear by UK Security Vetting, he would not have sent him to the US.
The Prime Minister has blamed Robbins for giving Mandelson clearance against the advice of the UK Security Vetting (Photo: Tolga Akmen/AFP)
But the PM has risked fuelling that row by saying that Robbins took the “deliberate decision” to withhold the fact there had been a vetting failure.
According to an account by Starmer in the Commons, Robbins insists that he could not have told the PM because there is a protocol not to disclose vetting information to ministers and prime ministers.
In evidence to the committee last November, Robbins said Mandelson’s clearance was “faster than some people’s clearances will have been … because we advanced him up the queue”.
MPs will want to know what pressure the then civil servant came under to expedite that appointment – one that has already cost several senior government figures their jobs and still hangs over the Prime Minister.
April 21, 2026 7:54 amGood morning – and welcome back
There’s another bruising day ahead for Sir Keir Starmer.
We expect this to kick off at 9am – and we’ll have updates here throughout.
Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to face a showdown in Parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson (Photo: Alastair Grant/AP)
Robbins, who is denying any wrongdoing in the vetting process, has been taking legal advice on whether to launch an employment tribunal against the Government after he was sacked by Starmer over the row.
The Prime Minister yesterday admitted that he should not have hired Mandelson for the diplomatic role in a Commons statement, but asserted again that he was not told the ex-Labour peer failed his vetting process.
Stick with us for updates throughout the day.
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