Starmer Blames UK Foreign Office in Bid to His Save Job

Keir Starmer said UK Foreign Office officials repeatedly let him down by not disclosing Peter Mandelson had failed his security vetting before being installed as US ambassador, as Britain’s embattled premier sought to limit the damage of the ongoing saga around the appointment.

“It beggars belief that throughout the whole timeline of events, officials in the Foreign Office saw fit to withhold this information from the most senior ministers,” Starmer told the House of Commons in a high-stakes appearance on Monday. Mandelson’s failed vetting “could and should have been shared with me on repeated occasions, and therefore should have been available to this house and ultimately to the British people.”