Starmer faces calls to quit after revelation Lord Mandelson failed vetting for US ambassador role
Security concerns about appointing Lord Mandelson as UK’s chief diplomat in Washington were overruled
Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to resign after it was revealed Lord Mandelson failed security vetting but still became ambassador to the US.
The Prime Minister has been accused of misleading parliament after repeatedly insisting due process was followed in the appointment of the disgraced peer and that he had been vetted in the normal way.
Maybe someone is counting the number of times Keir Starmer has faced calls to quit, but this security vetting malarky does miss the starting point of the whole debacle, the starting point which everyone knows anyway -
How the blue blazes did anyone in government, including Sir Keir Rodney Starmer, how did they ever imagine for one millisecond that Lord Mandelson was a suitable candidate for British ambassador to the United States?
Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to resign after it was revealed Lord Mandelson failed security vetting but still became ambassador to the US.
The Prime Minister has been accused of misleading parliament after repeatedly insisting due process was followed in the appointment of the disgraced peer and that he had been vetted in the normal way.
Maybe someone is counting the number of times Keir Starmer has faced calls to quit, but this security vetting malarky does miss the starting point of the whole debacle, the starting point which everyone knows anyway -
How the blue blazes did anyone in government, including Sir Keir Rodney Starmer, how did they ever imagine for one millisecond that Lord Mandelson was a suitable candidate for British ambassador to the United States?
5 comments:
If Stumbler resigns over the next few days (he is to address the House on Monday) then some on the Labour side might find it jolly helpful as a reason to excuse their likely drubbing in the local elections next month.
I've predicted in the past that poor results for Labour in next month's local elections will see Stumbler resign. Surely no person can keep going after so many errors and u-turns, and with so many more (such as Defence, the EU, and Net Zero) to come? There again Theresa May hung on and on for ages.
‘How the blue blazes…’
We haven’t heard much recently about Lord Alli, erstwhile provider of expensive goodies to the PM and Deputy PM (and a £64K loan to the distinctly dodgy Baroness Uddin before the then DPP - one Keir Starmer - ruled, on a tenuous technicality, that she need not face charges) and - perhaps significantly - close ally and bosom pal of Peter Mandelson for a quarter of a century, ever since the days when they were at the centre of Cherie Blair’s coterie of bright young Labour things.
What’s a PM to say when the man who paid for his designer glasses (not to mention Mrs S’s designer outfits) - and possibly knows things he would prefer never came to light - insists that his dear friend Peter must be ambassador to Washington?
DJ - he seems to have a job to which requires him to cling on whatever happens, as if he was eased into the position for that reason plus his rock solid intransigence and willingness to lie his socks off.
Macheath - I've been wondering when we'll hear more from Lord Alli - not yet seems to be most likely at the moment.
I agree, there are indications that Starmer has aspects of his personal life which must not reach the public arena, certain people know what they are and in some way are benefitting from him clinging on. I suspect quite a few journalists know or suspect as well, but won't risk the heavy hand of legal proceedings.
There are some fairly clear hints that the Mandelson appointment was possibly connected with access to confidential information, although not much seems to be genuinely secret these days.
Jacob Rees Mogg has some decently short and succint videos on Youtube. He covers issues of the day and he has just done one on the Mandelson affair.He makes the point that Starmer now has no authority left and is in effect a dead man walking. Bearing in mind that the Local Elections are in 3 weeks time and if the results are as predicted there is no way Starmer can survive.
John - many people would like to see him ousted after a disaster in the May elections, but possible replacements mentioned so far aren't appealing. It will be an interesting situation if he does survive, the rationales will take some composing.
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