Tory leader Kemi Badenoch challenged the Prime Minister to face more questions – once Sir Olly Robbins’ bombshell defence is heard.

Mrs Badenoch said: “Tomorrow the former Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Office will appear in Parliament.

“The House should have the chance to debate what he says at the earliest opportunity.

“That is why the House should be able to debate this before the forthcoming prorogation.

“At its core… this matter pertains to the Prime Minister’s catastrophic judgement.

“It pertains to his lack of grip… and his failure to ask the relevant questions.

“It would be unfair of him to palm this Debate off onto a junior minister who does not have the information and did not take the decision.

“This whole saga has been about the Prime Minister’s leadership.

“A real leader would come and answer these questions himself.”

She told MPs, as she applied for an emergency debate on Tuesday: “He has hidden behind process at every turn… and failed to take responsibility.

“It is quite clear that the spirit and letter of the Humble Address which this House voted for have not been met. That is disrespectful to this House.

“There remain serious inconsistencies in the government’s position.

“Inconsistencies with the account of officials involved in the process.

“And inconsistencies with the Members of this House and journalists who sought to scrutinise the appointment at the time.”

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) chairman has urged the Government to “expedite” the disclosure of information related to the Foreign Office’s handling of Lord Mandelson’s vetting.

Labour peer Lord Beamish said: “We’ve now got the vetting documentation to consider but what about the decision-making process within the Foreign Office to reject the recommendation of the vetting, or the failure to vet, Peter Mandelson?

“Again, I’ve been told by the Cabinet Office nothing exists.

“Well, can I stress to (Lords Leader Baroness Smith of Basildon) that if it does exist, could she somehow expedite that information to ensure it gets to the ISC as quickly as possible?”

In her response, Lady Smith said: “It may be that there are documents that weren’t available in the first tranche but they should be available in the second or later, because it’s been very clear to everybody – I think the Prime Minister (Sir Keir Starmer) was extremely clear on this today – that all information should be available, and the humble address should be complied with in full.”

Sir Keir Starmer has denied misleading the House of Commons, under questioning from MPs.

Tory MP John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) said: “The Prime Minister said various things over the course of the last few weeks and months, which have now turned out not to be true around the vetting process of Peter Mandelson.

“Does the Prime Minister accept that he inadvertently misled the House of Commons?”

Sir Keir replied: “No I did not mislead the House of Commons. I accept that information that I should have had, and information that the House should have had, should have been before the House, but I did not mislead the House, and that’s why I’ve set out the account in full.”

Zarah Sultana has now been told to leave the Commons Chamber after calling Keir Starmer a liar. She’s the second MP to be thrown out, after Reform MP Lee Anderson was told to leave for the same reason.

In Ms Sultana’s case, the Speaker officially “named” her, which appears to mean she is suspended for five days.

Left-winger Ms Sultana is a former Labour MP and now a member of Your Party alongside Jeremy Corbyn.

Read the full story here

Reform MP Lee Anderson has been ejected from the House of Commons after accusing Sir Keir Starmer of “lying” about the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US. The fiery exchange took place in the middle of the Prime Minister’s parliamentary statement over the Mandelson vetting scandal.

Read the full story here

A very interesting rumour is circulating in Parliament.

Labour MPs are hauling Keir Starmer over the coals in a bid to get more answers on the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Sarah Russell, the MP for Congleton, said: “The Cabinet Secretary came on Tuesday and she had clearly spent a month researching whether or not she could provide the advice that she did.

“When the Prime Minister then launched an investigation, rather than coming straight to the House with the information that she had provided, was that because that information was insufficient to present to the House? And if so, when was he planning to come to the House?”

Sir Keir insisted the information was insufficient “because all it told me that the recommendation of the UKSV was to deny clearance”.

More on the extraordinary moment Lee Anderson was thrown out of the Chamber.

The firebrand MP said the problem Sir Keir had was that “no one believes him”.

Mr Anderson said: “The public don’t believe him, the MPs on this side of the House don’t believe him, his own gullible backbenchers don’t believe me. So does the Prime Minister agree with me he’s been lying?”

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, stepped in to tell Mr Anderson: “Sorry, we don’t use those words and I’m sure the member’s withdrawn it.”

The Reform MP responded: “I have the greatest respect for you and your office but I will not withdraw. That man couldn’t lie straight in bed.”

Labour could lose close to 2,000 council seats in the forthcoming local elections and the Conservatives look set to suffer big losses as the surge in support for Reform UK and the Green Party continues, polling has shown.

Modelling by More in Common shows Labour losing 1,597 seats in the best expected scenario and 1,738 seats in the worst case, while the range for Conservative losses is between 692 and 368.

Support for Reform UK is shown as stabilising following big gains in elections last year, with the expected number of new seats ranging from 1,603 to 1,273.

Sir Keir Starmer said he “didn’t accept” Sir Olly Robbins’s explanation about why Lord Mandelson was given security clearance despite failing vetting.

Speaking in the Commons, Sir Julian Lewis, a Tory MP, asked: “Before sacking Oliver Robbins last week, did the Prime Minister ask him why he overruled the verdict of the security vetters, and if so what was his explanation?”

Sir Keir responded: “I did ask him and I didn’t accept his explanation. That’s why I sacked him.”

Reform’s Lee Anderson has been thrown out of the Chamber after accusing Keir Starmer of lying.

The Speaker had warned MPs not to use this precise wording.

A key committee has accused Sir Keir of keeping them in the dark.

Sir Jeremy Wright said the Intelligence and Secury Committee asked for any information relating to vetting to be supplied to it in the first tranche of information that it was to consider.

Sir Jeremy added that while Sir Keir became aware of Lord Mandelson’s vetting failure on Tuesday, the ISC was not told until Thursday, “after existence had been published in the Guardian newspaper”.

He continued: “I am bound to ask the Prime Minister this. If that information’s existence had not been disclosed by the press, would we have been told about it? And if so, why did the ISC have to learn of its existence from the Guardian and not the Government?”

Sir Keir said the information “would have been provided” to the committee if it had not been reported in the press. He insisted the reason for the delay was he “wanted to understand” who gave security clearance to Lord Mandelson so he could update MPs.

Sir Keir Starmer did not respond to suggestions No 10 had been bounced into confirming Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador after the appointment was leaked.

This was raised by chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Dame Emily Thornberry, who said: “Somebody, probably Peter Mandelson himself, leaked to the press his appointment as US ambassador, effectively bouncing the Government into confirming it.

“But then when the confirmation did come forward about his appointment, it did not make clear that it was subject to vetting in either the offer letter to Peter Mandelson or in the Government’s press release.

“I am afraid to say, doesn’t this look like for certain members of the Prime Minister’s team, getting Peter Mandelson the job was a priority that overrode everything else, and that security considerations were very much second order?”

In his response, the Prime Minister repeated that he would not have made the appointment had he been told that he failed security vetting.

He added: “A deliberate decision was taken to withhold that material. This was not a lack of asking. This wasn’t an oversight. It was a decision … taken not to share that information on repeated occasions.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey compared Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of the Mandelson scandal to how Boris Johnson dealt with partygate.

The Liberal Democrat leader said: “It’s 2022 all over again. Back then, when he stood on this of the House, it was Boris Johnson who was accused of misleading Parliament and scapegoating senior officials, the then leader of the Opposition couldn’t have been clearer.”

Sir Ed continued: “He blames his officials, he said he had no idea. He gives every impression of a Prime Minister in office, but not in power… The facts remain even on his account the Prime Minister appointed Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US even after he’d been warned about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told MPs there was “deliberate decision” taken on “repeated occasions” not to tell him about Lord Peter Mandelson’s failure to pass security vetting.

Sir Chris Wormald, the former cabinet secretary, was not told about UK Security Vetting’s (UKSV) recommendation when he made his review of the appointment process for Lord Peter Mandelson to become the ambassador to the US, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The Prime Minister said Sir Chris should have been told, and it was “astonishing” he was not.

Sir Keir said: “Last week the then cabinet secretary was clear, that when he carried out his review the Foreign Office did not tell him about the UKSV recommendation that developed vetting clearance should be denied to Peter Mandelson. I find that astonishing.

“I do not accept that I could not have been told about the recommendation before Peter Mandelson took up his post.

“I absolutely do not accept that the then-cabinet secretary, an official not a politician, when carrying out his review, could not have been told that UKSV recommended that Peter Mandelson should be denied developed vetting clearance. It was a vital part of the process that I had asked him to review. Clearly he could have been told, and he should have been told.”

Kemi Badenoch asks six scathing questions of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Read them all here.

Kemi Badenoch asks if he still believes whether Prime Ministers should resign if they mislead the House.

Mrs Badenoch concluded: “On Jan 26, 2022, the Rt Hon gentleman said to a previous prime minister at this Despatch Box: ‘If he misled the House, he must resign’. Does he stand by those words or is there one rule for him and another for everyone else?”

Kemi Badenoch questions Keir Starmer’s ability to take responsibility, highlighting his previous words of: “I will carry the can for any organisation I lead.”

But Mrs Badenoch reveals the growing list of people Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has sacked “for a decision he made”.

“It doesn’t appear he asked any questions at all. Why? He didn’t want to know.

“It is the duty of the PM to ensure he tells the truth.

“I’m only holding the Prime Minister to the same standard he has held to others.

“We know that the Prime Minister announced the appointment before vetting was complete, an extraordinary and unprecedented step for the role of US ambassador.

“The Prime Minister says that it was usual for this because it was a political appointment.

“So I will remind him and the rest of the Labour front bench who were heckling that Peter Mandelson was a politician who had been sacked twice from government for lying. That meant he should have gone through the full security process.”

The Tory leader is trying to pry answers from the PM on what he really knew about Peter Mandelson.

Amongst those questions, was the former US Ambassador’s business links.

Kemi Badenoch warns Peter Mandelson had access to “top secret” intelligence, adding “it is a issue of national security”.

The Tory leader insists vital questions remain unanswered.

“At every turn, the Government story has become murkier and more contradictory.”

She told MPs: “We still do not know exactly why Peter Mandelson failed that vetting.

“We do not know what risks our country was exposed to, and we do not know how it is possible that the Prime Minister said repeatedly that this was a failure of vetting, went on television and said things that were blatantly incorrect, and not a single adviser or a single official told him that what he was saying wasn’t true.

“At every turn with every explanation, the Government’s story has become murkier and more contradictory. It is time for the truth.”

Kemi Badenoch says Sir Keir Starmer has breached the ministerial code for not telling MPs sooner about Peter Mandelson’s vetting failure.

The Tory leader said the Labour leader should have used Prime Minister’s Questions last Wednesday.

She blasted: “His reputation is at stake. Everyone is watching, it is finally time for the truth.”

Mrs Badenoch reminded Sir Keir that he had a duty to correct the record at “the earliest opportunity” under the ministerial code.

She added: “The Prime Minister says he only found out on Tuesday that Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting. The earliest opportunity to correct the record was Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, almost a week ago.

“This is a breach of the ministerial code.”

Justice Secretary David Lammy and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, sitting directly behind Keir Starmer, are looking very glum and downbeat.

Sir Keir tells MPs: “I accept that the sensitive personal information provided by an individual being vetted must be protected from disclosure. If that were not the case, the integrity of the whole process would be compromised.

“What I do not accept is that the appointing minister cannot be told of the recommendation by UKSV.

“Indeed, given the seriousness of these issues and the significance of the appointment, I simply do not accept that Foreign Office officials could not have informed me of UKSV’s recommendations, whilst also maintaining the necessary confidentiality that vetting requires.

“There is no law that stops civil servants sensibly flagging UKSV recommendations while protecting detailed, sensitive vetting information to allow ministers to make judgments on appointments or explaining matters to Parliament.”

Keir Starmer says he would not have appointed Peter Mandelson had he known he had failed developed vetting.

And he reveals further “opportunities were missed”.

The Prime Minister said he “could and should” have been told about the vetting refusal.

Sir Keir reveals: “For many departments, a decision from UKSV is binding” – but not for the Foreign Office.

He condemns rules preventing “appointing” ministers from being told crucial details from vetting.

Sir Keir insists it is “usual” for security vetting to be done after an appointment is made.

Senior civil servants have backed up the claims, the Prime Minister insists.

The Prime Minister says he has changed the rules to reverse this.

Sir Keir told MPs: “I want to make clear to the House that for a direct ministerial appointment, it was usual for security vetting to happen after the appointment, but before starting in post, that was the process in place at the time.

“This was confirmed by the former cabinet secretary, Sir Chris Wormald at the Foreign Affairs Select Committee on the 3rd of November 2025, when he gave evidence.

“Sir Chris made clear, I’m quoting him now, ‘when we are making appointments from outside the Civil Service, the normal thing is for security clearance to happen after appointment, but before the person signs a contract and takes up post’.”

He continued: “After I sacked Peter Mandelson I changed that process so that now an appointment cannot be announced until after security vetting is passed.”

The Prime Minister said he ordered a probe to find out who withheld crucial details.

He added: “This is information I should have had a long time ago.”

Keir Starmer admits his judgement was “wrong” and concedes he should not have appointed Peter Mandelson.

He reveals he found out on the 14th of April that Foreign Office officials granted Developed Vetting against the recommendation of security chiefs.

Sir Keir says that information was not passed on to ministers.

Sir Keir says he found this “staggering”.

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle warns MPs not to accuse others of lying.

The Peers gallery in the Commons is completely packed for Keir Starmer’s Mandelson statement, Daily Express Political Editor Martyn Brown reports from inside the Chamber.

Labour MP Rachel Blake declared the Commons showdown is about giving MPs like her a “chance to put questions to him and to make sure that we are also heard”.

Many MPs “are really concerned” that Sir Keir didn’t know about the vetting issues surrounding his ambassadorial pick.

The Prime Minister “recognises that this was a terrible mistake to make this appointment”, but he “did what he felt was right at the time”. “If he had had the information that we had now… he wouldn’t have made that appointment.”

She says what is needed now is “understanding [about] why he wasn’t told about the situation with the vetting and being held accountable himself in the chamber, in Parliament”. “That’s the right thing to do.”

A former employee in the Houses of Parliament was arrested last week under anti-hacking laws, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has announced.

Addressing MPs at the start of business in the House of Commons on Monday, Sir Lindsay said the former staff member had been detained under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

The law covers unauthorised access to computer material, includes intent to commit or facilitate further offences, and unauthorised modification of computer material.

Sir Keir Starmer is “either a liar or completely incompetent”, a senior Tory has claimed.

Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake insisted the Prime Minister must resign on Monday, saying he proved he was unfit for office by not taking enough care in appointing Lord Mandelson.

Mr Hollinrake told Sky News: “This all came to light in September, really, when Kemi Badenoch pressed him at Prime Minister’s Questions about Mandelson. That is six months ago.

“Why wouldn’t the Prime Minister, if he was fit for office, go into all the detail himself, what exactly was known at the time?”

A series of antisemitic attacks on Jewish sites in London are “abhorrent” and “unacceptable”, security minister Dan Jarvis said.

Speaking at Finchley Reform Synagogue, which was subject last week to an attempted arson attack, Mr Jarvis, Minister of State for Security, said: “I’m aware that they (Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia) have claimed responsibility.

“Clearly, that is an active line of investigation with the Metropolitan Police, and we’re working very closely with them.

“We will have to see where the police investigation takes us, but that is clearly a point of very significant concern, and the government will make sure that we have got the right policy and legislative framework to crack down on groups such as this.”

When asked about the prospect of people being paid to commit these crimes, Mr Jarvis said: “My message to them is very simple. They should not do that. That is clearly very serious criminal activity that comes in scope of the National Security Act.”

He added: “The attacks that we’ve seen in recent times are completely abhorrent and unacceptable, and we will move heaven and earth to make sure that people feel properly supported.”

Lord Peter Mandelson was pictured with head head in his hand during a dog walk on Monday morning.

It comes hours before Keir Starmer is set to give a crunch statement to the Commons.

Downing Street has repeatedly refused to say whether Sir Keir Starmer will correct the record after telling Parliament the proper process had been followed in making Lord Peter Mandelson ambassador to the US.

Asked whether the Prime Minister accepted he had misled Parliament, his official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister would never knowingly mislead Parliament or the public.

“He’s clear though, that this information should have been provided to Parliament, should have been provided to him… so he will obviously update the House with the full information.”

Asked whether he would correct the record, the spokesman said he would be “updating Parliament with information” that he should have had previously.

Pressed on whether this meant he was effectively admitting he did inadvertently mislead Parliament, the official said Sir Keir would be “updating Parliament with the full facts of this case.”

Downing Street refused to say whether it was a “mistake” for Sir Keir Starmer to ignore the advice of his then-cabinet secretary to do security clearances before confirming Lord Mandelson’s appointment.

Asked whether it had been a mistake to not follow the advice from Lord Simon Case, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “Well you’ve heard since this case, I think the Chief Secretary to the PM announced this as part of a formal review of the national security system, we’ve changed the process by which appointments can be made ahead of vetting.”

Pressed on why the Prime Minister had ignored this advice, he said external appointments to the civil service were normally “subject to obtaining security clearance”.

Sir Olly Robbins will appear before MPs on Tuesday to answer questions following the row over Lord Peter Mandelson’s vetting for his appointment as US ambassador, the Foreign Affairs Committee has confirmed.

Sir Keir Starmer was advised that a political appointee such as Peter Mandelson should undergo national security vetting before he was formally appointed, documents uncovered by Sky News show.

In papers published by the government under the terms of the humble address mandating the release of documents, there is a letter from the then cabinet secretary, Lord Simon Case, setting out the process ahead of the appointment.

Lord Case said: “You should give us the name of the person you would like to appoint and we will develop a plan for them to acquire the necessary security clearances and do due diligence on any potential Conflicts of Interest or other issues of which you should be aware before confirming your choice.”

The note was sent to the Prime Minister on 11 November 2024.

Mandelson was announced as the PM’s choice for US ambassador on 20 December 2024 and vetting took place after that.

Nigel Farage‘s press conference has now ended.

The next big moment of the day will come from 3.30pm when Keir Starmer gives his statement on Mandelson to the Commons.

Reform UK has pledged an immediate review of all asylum claims from the last five years should the party win the next general election

Reform UK’s Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf said: “For years, Tory and Labour governments have presided over an invasion of Britain. They have effectively operated an open borders policy. Instead of upholding the law, they have rewarded those who broke it by entering Britain illegally.

“Reform will reverse this.

“Today we announce that a Reform government will review the previous 5 years of asylum grants, and anyone who broke into the country illegally or overstayed on another visa will be stripped of their status and deported. We will do what it takes to restore justice in Britain.”

Nigel Farage said he finds the “whole thing totally incredible” when it comes to the Mandelson vetting saga.

He says he strongly believes the PM misled the Commons and lied to the country.

He adds: “If there’s a motion of no confidence put down, we would support it.”

But Mr Farage goes on to say it won’t happen because of the Labour’s majority.

Nigel Farage says illegal migration, and migration by people who exploit the asylum, is a threat to our economy, to women and girls and to our national security.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf are about to set out plans to deport 400,000 people previously granted asylum, at a London press conference

Friend of Olly Robbins and UN official Tom Fletcher tells BBC Today: ​”I’ve known Olly well for a long time – this is a guy who has public service and integrity stitched into his DNA in a way I haven’t seen in any other single individual. And I’ve worked with so many people inside governments.

“He’s had an utterly rough few days and he’s a pretty strong kind of character, but I think he’s heartbroken.”

Lord Mandelson was sacked last year, just nine months into the Washington DC posting, after further details of his association with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein emerged.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the Lord Mandelson row was “an issue of national security”.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Somebody who was a national security risk – and this had been flagged – was put into the most senior and sensitive diplomatic post, where all sorts of information, intelligence, which I would not have seen as a secretary of state, would have come across his desk. A national security issue.

“And what I find really shocking is how so many people’s careers are being ended over this, but the Prime Minister is not taking responsibility. He’s throwing everybody under a bus.”

Mrs Badenoch said ultimately it would be Labour MPs who had to decide on the Prime Minister’s fate.

“I’ve already said that he should resign, I don’t think that he will resign,” she added.

“He’s going to cling on. He will throw everybody under a bus, including his own MPs who are, some of them, going out to defend him.

“Sadly, the public did not give enough Conservative MPs to bring down the Labour Prime Minister. It’s Labour MPs who can do that. They will have to look in their own hearts and decide whether they want to be complicit in this cover-up.”

Keir Starmer is understood to have been notified about the Mandelson vetting issue on Tuesday last week.

Allies of the Prime Minister insisted that today is the first opportunity he has had to set out the full facts to Parliament, despite appearing in the Commons last Wednesday for his regular question time session.

The Prime Minister’s defence will be to blame officials for not telling him or the then foreign secretary David Lammy that UK Security Vetting (UKSV) had not cleared Lord Mandelson.

A statement issued by No 10 on Sunday night said that although civil servants rather than ministers make decisions on vetting and clearance, there was nothing in the law to prevent ministers being told.

“There is nothing in the guidance which prevented information being shared in this scenario, in a proportionate and necessary way and subject to the appropriate procedural steps,” the statement on the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act said.

While there are “legal obligations” under data protection rules, “no law prevents civil servants – while continuing to protect such sensitive personal information – from sensibly flagging UK Security Vetting recommendations or high level risks and mitigations”.

UKSV’s privacy notice sets out there are “limited circumstances in which relevant vetting information can be shared” if “a security risk has been identified”.

Sir Keir Starmer will battle to save his job in Parliament on Monday by setting out further details of the “unforgivable” error by officials in not telling him Peter Mandelson had failed his security vetting.

In a Commons statement, Sir Keir will be faced with allegations he misled Parliament after telling MPs the proper process had been followed in appointing Lord Mandelson to the post of ambassador to the US, insisting he had been kept in the dark about the peer being red-flagged by security experts.

Sir Keir effectively fired the Foreign Office’s top official Sir Olly Robbins last week after it emerged Lord Mandelson had been given developed vetting (DV) status despite failing checks carried out by the agency responsible for assessing security clearances.

Whitehall veteran Sir Olly is expected to give his own account to MPs on Tuesday at the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Asked on Sky News whether Keir Starmer will lead Labour into the next election, Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander says: “I expect so. There are no certainties, but of course I think he will, and I think he should.”

No10 are insisting the Prime Minister did not know that Lord Mandelson had failed his security vetting, and that Sir Keir is “furious” that he was not told. But what have the opposition parties been saying?

Conservatives: Kemi Badenoch has said that the answers given by Downing Street are “completely preposterous” and added “all roads lead to resignation”.

Liberal Democrats: Ed Davey claimed that the Prime Minister has shown “catastrophically poor judgement, and that the evidence suggested Starmer had misled the public and Parliament

Reform UK: Nigel Farage claims there is “no doubt” that MPs were misled, adding he feels Olly Robbins is a “sacrificial lamb”.

Green Party: Their boss, Zack Polanski, said on Friday there was “no way today should end” without Starmer’s resignation, and branded any other outcome an “absurd scenario”

The Prime Minister has “clearly lied” and is attempting to shift the blame onto his staff, the Chairman of the Conservative Party has said.

Speaking to Times Radio Kevin Hollinrake said the Prime Minister had repeatedly lied and said that “everybody knew what Mandelson was like” and added that Sir Keir had told Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s questions that the disgraced peer had passed vetting.

He accused the Prime Minister of being “sanctimonious” whilst in opposition when Sir Keir repeatedly demanded people resign for misleading parliament. Mr Hollinrake added that he felt the Prime Minister should resign.

Senior Foreign Office official Olly Robbins was sacked from his position last week, following reports that his department had not informed the Prime Minister that his pick for US Ambassador, Lord Mandelson, had failed his security vetting.

Sir Olly was made the permanent under-secretary of the Foreign Office back in January 2025.

As boss of the department he was also the head of the UK’s diplomatic service, as well as the top advisor to the foreign secretary.

He served as the previously permanent secretary of the Department for Exiting the European Union in 2016, and former PM Theresa May’s Europe adviser from 2017-19, overseeing Brexit negotiations.

He’d also served as principal private secretary for former PMs Tony Blair and then Gordon Brown.

Sir Keir Starmer will lead Labour into the next general election, a cabinet minister has said. Speaking this morning the Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander told journalists he expected the Prime Minister to still be in charge, but warned that “there are no certainties” in politics.

He added that “rightfully and reasonably” there were “important questions that need to be answered today”.

“Keir Starmer is going to set out all the facts, the right place for those questions to be answered are at the despatch box of the House of Commons,” he said.

Asked whether Sir Keir will lead Labour into the next election, expected in 2029, Mr Alexander said: “I expect so, yes… I think he will.”

He added: “There are no certainties but but of course I think he will lead and I think he should because, frankly, on the biggest call in this parliament he’s exercised the right judgment, which is to keep us out of someone else’s war.”

Accusing Sir Keir Starmer of “lying” doesn’t reflect well on the leader of the opposition, Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander has claimed.

He told the BBC that “the reason we are having this debate today is […] because of the judgement of the leader of the opposition” and suggested that it was more damning of Kemi Badenoch’s judgement than Sir Keir’s.

He repeated the claim that the Prime Minister only found out that Lord Mandelson had failed his vetting on Tuesday.

It is “simply untrue” to suggest that Sir Keir Starmer was lying about the Mandelson scandal, a Labour minister has claimed.

Scotland Secretary, Douglas Alexander, made the claim on BBC Breakfast this morning, before admitting it was a “mistake to appoint Peter Mandelson”.

He repeated the claim that officials had not shared with No10, or any ministers, that the vetting had failed.

After claiming to not have been notified that Lord Mandelson had failed his vetting, Sir Keir fired the Foreign Office boss last week.

Sir Olly Robbins is expected to give his side of the story to MPs at the Labour-chaired Foreign Affairs committee tomorrow.

Sir Keir Starmer will give a statement to the House of Commons this afternoon to lay out his side of the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal story.

He is expected to set out details on the “unforgivable” error, which No10 claims was made by Whitehall officials, in not telling him that the former Labour peer had not passed his vetting.

But Sir Keir is also facing allegations that he misled parliament after repeatedly telling MPs that the proper processes had been followed throughout.

Sacked Foreign Office Chief, Sir Olly Robbins, is seeking legal advice after being removed from his post by the Prime Minister due to the Mandelson scandal.

According to the Financial Times, friends of Sir Olly said he b een “thrown under the bus” because the Prime Minister had been “been casting around for someone to blame, other than himself.”

The paper had further been told that the former Mandarin was now seeking legal counsel ahead of speaking to MPs.

Labour politicians have also been calling on the Prime Minister to step aside. Lord Glasman, a long-time critic of Sir Keir told the Daily Telegraph the Prime Minister “cannot conceivably continue” in the wake of the latest revelations.

He added: “He cannot conceivably continue as a credible Prime Minister any longer. And that’s all because he cannot say ‘I made a mistake, I’m sorry’.”

Lord Mandelson’s business interests also fell under the spotlight over the weekend with reporting from the Sunday Times that his firm, Global Counsel, lobbied on the behalf of a blacklisted Chinese company.

Another one of the company’s clients was accused of nabbing the intellectual property of an American biotech company.

Kemi Badenoch has demanded Sir Keir Starmer tell Parliament “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” over the Lord Mandelson appointment scandal after the Prime Minister was accused of giving inaccurate information to MPs.

In a scathing letter to Sir Keir ahead of today’s Commons statement, the Tory leader said: “As an experienced barrister you will know the importance of telling the truth, but you will also know that many people think you have been at best recklessly negligent and at worst dishonest about this whole affair.”

Mrs Badenoch said Sir Keir had “failed to answer very simple questions about what you did and what you knew” in breach of his own Ministerial Code. She accused him of damaging relations with the United States, insulting victims of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and undermining national security by appointing someone the security services found to be of “high concern”.

Mrs Badenoch said: “This has been a tawdry and shaming affair for you and your party, and for this country.” She demanded a “frank statement” where the Prime Minister takes “due responsibility” instead of “blaming everyone else”.

The scandal deepened over the weekend as No10 attempted to play down the allegations they had been warned about Lord Mandelson’s vetting before.

Reporting in the Daily Telegraph revealed that Sir Keir Starmer had been warned about issues with the peers vetting.

One source told the paper: “The reality is that Starmer had already been warned about the major risks and he had waved them away.”

Sir Keir Starmer will face MPs this afternoon after days of accusations he misled parliament over the vetting scandal.

He faced calls to resign last week after it emerged he may have known that Peter Mandelson, the former US Ambassador, failed his security vetting.

He will need to convince MPs that he did not knowingly mislead the House, after the Prime Minister himself called on previous leaders to resign for the same thing.