Prime Minister Keir Starmer was unaware, the government said on Thursday, that the suggestion for Britain’s former ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, who had failed his security check before taking the job, had been overridden.
Starmer is under more pressure to accept Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the US who is under police investigation for allegedly providing government papers to sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, after the vetting failure was made public. This has led to further calls for the resignation of the prime minister.
The administration asserted that Starmer was unaware that the proposal had been rejected, despite Mandelson failing his security clearance before to taking the job. A government spokeswoman said in a statement on Thursday that neither the Prime Minister nor any other government minister were aware that Peter Mandelson was given advanced vetting against UK Security Vetting’s recommendation until earlier this week.
While defending his own actions, Starmer has apologized for the appointment, accused Mandelson of manufacturing a “litany of deceit” about his ties to Epstein, and promised to release the documents related to the appointment.
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