UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticized civil servants for failing to inform him that Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting. "I simply do not accept that Foreign Office officials could not have informed me of UKSV's recommendations whilst also maintaining the necessary confidentiality vetting requirements," Starmer told the House of Commons on Monday. "If I had known before he took up his post that UKSV recommendation was that developed vetting clearance should be denied, I would not have gone ahead with the appointment," he added.