Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she is “extremely concerned” that ministers were not told sooner about problems identified in the security vetting for Lord Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the United States. The delay has intensified scrutiny of the government’s handling of the case and of the information given to Parliament.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces mounting calls to resign from opposition parties and will be questioned in Parliament on Monday. The Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant, Sir Olly Robbins, who was dismissed last week over the episode, has been asked to appear before the Foreign Affairs Committee; he is expected to be invited to give evidence the following day. Ahead of that hearing, Cooper wrote to committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry asking for a review of the material already provided to ensure the committee’s record is “fully accurate.”
Cooper said she was alarmed by the emergence of new information and by the fact it had not previously been passed to ministers, which she said subsequently affected the information presented to Parliament. Downing Street released an account of a 15 April meeting in which the prime minister says he was told about the vetting for the first time. Sir Keir said he was “staggered” he had not been informed earlier; he has been criticised for earlier statements that due process was followed, and accused by opponents of misleading the Commons.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who was foreign secretary when Mandelson was appointed, told the Guardian he would not have approved the appointment had he been aware the vetting had failed. Lammy said neither he nor his advisers were told about the vetting outcome at the time, though he acknowledged there were time pressures on the Foreign Office to confirm the posting ahead of the anticipated return of Donald Trump to the US presidency. He described Sir Olly’s departure as surprising and said he regarded him as an “outstanding” civil servant.
Sir Olly, who had been in post for two weeks when Mandelson was selected, was invited to appear after last week’s developments “called into question” evidence he had previously given to the committee. BBC News reports he has not formally accepted the invitation but was preparing to appear. He has been defended by former permanent secretary Lord Simon McDonald, who said Sir Olly had been “thrown under the bus,” and allies of Lord Mandelson criticised the sacking as “egregious.”
Vetting is carried out by an agency overseen by the Cabinet Office, which advises hiring departments. BBC News understands the agency’s report recommended against granting Lord Mandelson security clearance to access sensitive material. Mandelson formally began the ambassadorial post in February 2025 and was removed last September after further details emerged about his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It also emerged that Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo learned of the vetting failure in late March and undertook legal and procedural checks before informing the prime minister; the Cabinet Office said senior officials acted correctly and took urgent steps to update the prime minister.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch wrote that Sir Keir had let others take the fall and branded him “unfit to run the country,” urging his resignation. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for the Privileges Committee to examine whether the prime minister intentionally misled Parliament. The SNP, Green Party and Reform UK have also demanded Sir Keir step down.