Morgan McSweeney, the former No 10 chief of staff, could be hauled in front of MPs to be grilled about Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.
Mandelson’s selection for the role, which he was later fired from over his links with Jeffrey Epstein, has been under intense scrutiny after it emerged there were questions over his security vetting.
On Tuesday, the former head of the Foreign Office, Sir Olly Robbins, was questioned by MPs on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee over his department’s failure to alert No 10 to the security doubts.
The Committee, overseen by Chair Dame Emily Thornberry, is considering whether to call anyone else in to answer questions about how Mandelson’s appointment went ahead despite the concerns, it is understood.
Robbins implied that there was political pressure from Downing Street, where McSweeney was overseeing political decisions, to get Mandelson in position in Washington.
And MPs are still toying with whether to request the attendance of McSweeney, with no final decision made.
McSweeney himself was forced to step down from his role after taking responsibility for the decision to hire Mandelson.
And the repercussions of the appointment of Mandelson, who has had a chequered political history, continue to reverberate through Starmer’s Government.
Robbins appeared in front of the committee days after being sacked by Starmer over his decision not to alert ministers that the security vetting service had concerns about Mandelson’s connections.
He defended his decision and explained to MPs that he had followed the usual process, which prevented him from sharing the details of what was found during the vetting.
But Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Starmer made the right decision in sacking Robbins.
Speaking at an event in central London, Reeves said: “Olly Robbins today did accept that it was possible to tell people, tell the Prime Minister, whether or not Peter Mandelson passed the vetting process, and he didn’t pass that information on.
“I do think that was crucial information ahead of Peter Mandelson taking up that job, and I think that the Prime Minister should have been informed of it.
“It doesn’t stop Olly from having a distinguished career as a public servant, for which we thank him, but that was a serious mistake, and the Prime Minister made his decision on the basis of that.”
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