The Guardian reports that UK Security Vetting services actually denied Peter Mandelson clearance for Developed Vetting after the usual process. That decision was overruled. A nuclear bomb has just detonated inside Starmer’s main excuse for appointing and defending Mandelson…
This rejection came after a due diligence process by the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics team and after Mandelson’s appointment was made public in December. Mandelson failed his security clearance process on 28 January last year. Within two days that was reversed by the FCDO led by David Lammy and permanent secretary Olly Robbins…
Developed Vetting denial is ultra-rare because it is a pretty standard clearance level for those dealing with classified information. As a reminder here are some of the times Starmer blamed the vetting process for the Mandelson appointment:
Starmer directly referenced the security vetting on 5 February this year: “There was… security vetting carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave him clearance for the role, and you have to go through that before you take up the post.” Uh oh…
Officials are also reportedly considering whether to block this information from the Mandelson Files as mandated by the Humble Address – which would be a breach of its terms. Just as Starmer thought this was behind him…
Burnham confirms he spoke to Trump last night about drilling in the North Sea:
“I indicated in the phone call that we had a week last Monday that I would take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the North Sea, and that is my intention as we go forward from here. There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can’t ignore that. Hence, me indicating that to the president…”