UK's Starmer faces calls to quit over Mandelson vetting

LONDON - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced renewed calls from opposition leaders to quit after revelations that his former envoy to the U.S. failed security vetting and was still allowed to take up the post.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office cleared Peter Mandelson to become ambassador to Washington last year against the recommendation of security officials who had reviewed his background, the government acknowledged on Thursday. The decision, which was first reported by the Guardian newspaper, raised fresh questions about Starmer's judgment in appointing the Labour Party grandee to the position despite his links to China, Russia and Jeffrey Epstein.

The prime minister was expected to make a statement in Parliament as soon as Monday, a government official said. Starmer learned of the vetting decision on Tuesday evening and had been making plans to update the House of Commons when the development became public, the official said.

Two government officials attributed the decision to grant Mandelson "developed vetting" to the Foreign Office's top civil servant, Olly Robbins, who had then only just started in the role.

"The prime minister has initiated a process to establish the facts of the granting of developed vetting and we are working urgently to comply with that process," the Foreign Office said in a statement. Robbins didn't respond to a request for comment.

While government departments do have the power to overturn vetting decisions, it is unusual for them to do so, and the disclosure by the Guardian earlier sparked fresh scrutiny of Starmer's handling of the appointment, not least because he has repeatedly said "full due process" was followed in making it.

Labour's political opponents seized on the story, with main opposition Conservative Party's leader, Kemi Badenoch, saying Starmer must "take responsibility." The leaders of Reform U.K. and the Liberal Democrats saying he should quit.

The revelation is likely to trigger renewed speculation within the Labour Party about Starmer's leadership. He survived calls to resign in February, when he was forced to acknowledge that the material used to vet Mandelson contained details of his relationship with Epstein.

Starmer fired Mandelson last September following revelations by Bloomberg about the depth of the envoy's former ties with Epstein, the late pedophile financier. The premier has previously sought to blame flaws in the security vetting for the appointment going ahead and will now have to explain why in fact that process appears to have found against the envoy.

Starmer in September repeatedly told the House of Commons that "full due process" was followed. In February, he told reporters that that there had been "security vetting, carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave him clearance for the role."

"You have to go through that before you take up the post," Starmer said at the time. "Clearly both the due diligence and the security vetting need to be looked at again."

Benchmark gilts flipped to losses after the report, with the yield on 10-year notes rising as much as five basis points to 4.87%. U.K. bonds have proven sensitive to stories that could prove damaging to the current government on the view that any replacement for Starmer or Reeves would be less committed to fiscal restraint.

The move late during Thursday's session was relatively small compared to recent volatility. Yields surged above 5% for the first time since 2008 as energy prices soared last month. While the move has pared, the 10-year rate is still about 60 basis points higher than it was before the U.S. and Israel's war on Iran.

Starmer picked Mandelson, a veteran Labour figure who served in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments, as his ambassador to Washington in December 2024 as the prime minister sought to build relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, building on Mandelson's trade expertise.

The party grandee took up his post in February last year before being fired seven months later after a Bloomberg News investigation revealed his links to Epstein were deeper than previously known.

The U.S. Department of Justice released a fresh trove of documents in late January, including emails in which Mandelson allegedly appeared to disclose sensitive government information to the financier while serving as a cabinet minister from 2008 to 2010.

Those revelations nearly cost Starmer his job in February and did lead to the resignation of his top aide, Morgan McSweeney, who was in favor of the Mandelson appointment and involved in a separate vetting process. A person familiar with McSweeney's thinking said he did not know Mandelson had failed his developed vetting.

Developed vetting is an extensive process used in government appointments to particularly sensitive roles, involving an interview and background check by security officials.

The government has been compelled by a parliamentary vote to release internal documents related to the Mandelson appointment. So far it has released one tranche of files, with more due to be published in the weeks ahead.

Badenoch said the revelations suggested premier had "misled" the House of Commons, while Reform U.K. Leader Nigel Farage accused Starmer of "blatantly" lying. He and Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said he should resign.

"It looks as though he has also misled Parliament and lied to the British public," Davey said. "If that is the case, he must go."

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(With assistance from Greg Ritchie.)

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