There is really only one story dominating today, despite possibly being on the brink of a peace agreement in the Middle East, and that’s the latest extraordinary development in the Mandelson affair. This is a nightmare for the government – one that there seems no chance of waking up from any time soon.
It turns out that Mandelson actually failed the developed vetting process to be appointed as US ambassador – meaning the security services thought he was a potential security risk in that most sensitive of roles – though the government appointed him anyway. Why it did so has not really been answered, but blame has been laid at the door of the Foreign Office permanent secretary Olly Robbins, who was sacked last night after he lost the confidence of Keir Starmer and the Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper. Our brilliant political editor, Ailbhe, has written a more in-depth report here.
Once again, this government is mired in yet another scandal, with questions being raised about how such a thing could happen. And once again, the Prime Minister is leading those calls, in the face of an increasingly unsympathetic response from his party. No 10 said last night that Starmer is “furious” at the failure at the top of the government he leads. Just this morning Starmer has said it is “staggering” and “unacceptable” that he wasn’t told that Mandelson failed vetting.
There have already been some anonymous calls within Labour for Starmer to resign. But we have been here before – only a few months ago in fact – waiting on important people who themselves are waiting to see what other important people do before acting on anything. And so, again, nothing might happen.
As things stand, the old question is being pursued doggedly by the lobby: “Who knew what, and when?” Last night’s carefully worded statement from No 10 did not say that nobody in Downing Street knew Mandelson had failed developed vetting, just that the Prime Minister and ministers were not aware until Tuesday of this week (14 April). There are a lot of people working at the top of government, who are neither the PM nor ministers, who could conceivably be blamed for this. Two of them – the former No 10 chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, and the former cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald – have already left government. McSweeney’s friends have told journalists he didn’t know anything about this.
Developments continue – and quickly – while the Prime Minister is out of the country attending a summit in Paris about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. As Ailbhe notes this morning, Starmer essentially overruled the first round of vetting by announcing Mandelson’s appointment after the original checks had raised concerns. This poses questions about whether political pressure on officials was also responsible for the overturning of the post-appointment round of developed vetting.
Any attempt to blame this solely on Robbins, a long-standing civil servant, is unlikely to succeed. Robbins has simply become the latest mandarin who finds themselves thrust into the spotlight when the government is on a sticky wicket – remember when the public learned of the existence of Matthew Collins, the deputy national security adviser, during the furore over the collapse of the China spy trial last autumn?
The sacking of Robbins is an attempt at damage limitation. It is obvious that the story didn’t start with him, given that Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador was announced before Robbins started work as permanent secretary at the FCDO, though it is equally obvious that the story won’t go quiet with Robbins either.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here
[Further reading: Starmer sacks top civil servant as Mandelson crisis deepens]
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