Starmer on the record, in full view of the media, on 5th February:
“There was then… security vetting carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise … that gave [Mandelson] clearance for the role.”
A day earlier, Badenoch asked him in the Commons if “the security vetting he received mention[ed] Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein“. Starmer said it did. So he saw the DV vetting prior to Mandelson’s appointment, referred to specific parts within it at the despatch box in February, yet only found out Mandelson had failed that vetting on Tuesday. Nonsense…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”