Did Keir Starmer “lie, lie and lie again" over Mandelson?

The News Agents

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Friday, 17 April 2026 - 38 minutes

That's the charge from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who has called on the Prime Minister to resign today.

The Guardian reported last night that Starmer appointed Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington even though he had failed government security vetting. The PM has said today he is "absolutely furious" he was not told about this - and has sacked Olly Robbins, the top civil servant at the Foreign Office.

Starmer had previously insisted that “full due process” was followed in the appointment, and that Mandelson had cleared the vetting. Could it really be the case that Starmer was never alerted to the vetting issues? And if he was never told - should it have been his job to know? Why does he keep coming across as a passenger, rather than the driver, of government?

And does the latest revelation in the Mandelson affair put the PM in fresh peril - just as it looked like the leadership speculation was beginning to dim?

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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