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“The appointment of Mandelson as ambassador was a serious error of judgment. I advised the Prime Minister in support of that appointment and I was wrong to do so…
“I resigned because I believe responsibility should rest with those who make serious mistakes. Accountability in public life cannot apply only when it is convenient. The Prime Minister relied on my advice and I got it wrong. It is also important, however, to distinguish between what I did do and what I did not do.
“What I did do was make a recommendation based on my judgment that Mandelson’s experience, relationships and political skills could serve the national interest in Washington at an important moment. That judgment was a mistake. What I did not do was oversee national security vetting, ask officials to ignore procedures, request that steps should be skipped or communicate, implicitly or explicitly, that checks should be cleared at all costs. I would never have considered that acceptable.”
Read Guido’s rolling live blog of Barton’s evidence by clicking here…
Barton at 9am, McSweeney at 11am. A disastrous double bill for Starmer. Grab the popcorn…
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Read the letter from Ian Collard – FCDO Chief Property & Security Officer – below:
Continue reading “LIVE: Ex-FCDO Chief Sir Philip Barton Gives Evidence on Mandelson Vetting Farce”
Darren Jones on BBC Sunday Morning with Laura Kuennsberg, responding to calls for a privileges committee probe into Starmer’s appointment of Mandelson:
“You have to remember, what are these privileges committees about? The last time it was used was when Boris Johnson told the House of Commons there were no parties in Downing Street. It was then shown he was at five of them and got a fine from the police.
“That’s what these processes are in place for, so the Opposition are just using tactics to try to distract from the fact that the Government is doing good work in this pre-election period… As far as I understand the case, there is no case to answer.”
“The Prime Minister has been very clear that the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador of the United States was the wrong one. He regrets that and he has apologised for it. Allegations that the Prime Minister knew or lied, or that there was a cover-up, have just been found to be totally untrue…”
Starmer is in the bunker insisting he will fight on…
Guido hears there are concerns among government officials over what Peter Mandelson was up to while serving in DC. What will the second tranche of Mandelson Files reveal…
In the New Statesman an anonymous FCDO official notes:
“I fear the worst is yet to come – we’ve not even got to releasing what Mandelson was doing (or not) while ambassador.”
Guido has already noted the huge stress inside government as to the second batch of files. Guido hears some of those concerns are centred around Mandelson’s email communications and their recipients in particular. Files from the period covering his actual term are set to be released by the government – which has delayed their publication until after the local elections…
The FT reports the National Crime Agency (NCA) reviewed fresh allegations about Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein as late as spring 2024, just months before Starmer appointed him as US ambassador. Downing Street was informed in the summer of 2024…
A senior British official arranged a meeting between the NCA and an American human rights activist claimed to have new information about Mandelson’s links to Epstein. The agency concluded the claims were “largely hearsay” and did not launch a full investigation. Mandelson got the job.
Cabinet Office permanent secretary Cat Little is in front of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee at 9.30. The saga rolls on…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”