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Minister defends Starmer amid Mandelson revelations, saying vetting decision ‘utterly unacceptable’ – UK politics live | Politics

Published

2 months ago

April 17, 2026

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Mandelson vetting decision “utterly unacceptable” – chief secretary to PM

With the prime minister in Paris for talks on the opening of the strait of Hormuz, his chief secretary, Darren Jones, has been taking flak for the Mandelson vetting revelations on the morning media rounds.

Jones has told broadcasters the Foreign Office’s decision to overrule the security vetting findings was “utterly unacceptable”

He said he had ordered an urgent review after discovering that the Foreign Office and other Government departments the right to ignore security advice when appointing people to sensitive roles.

He told Sky News:

It is utterly unacceptable, not just in the individual case of Peter Mandelson and respect of the prime minister’s fury at the Foreign Office for not having taught him this information, but the very fact that their processes were in place that allow for that to happen in the first place.

That’s why in my role in the Cabinet Office, immediately last night, I suspended the rights for these organisations to make these judgments.

I’ve asked for an urgent review about what decisions these organisations have taken in the past to overrule the recommendations from UK security vetting, and I was due to announce a broader, independent review of the vetting process anyway. And this will now be part of that.

Earlier on ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme, Jones said he had suspended the rights of the Foreign Office to overrule security vetting recommendations. He said:

As soon as I found out last night that the Foreign Office and a small number of other organisations have the right to ignore the recommendation… I immediately suspended those rights and ordered an urgent audit.

Key events

Jones told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that the prime minister only became aware of the Foreign Office’s decision to grant vetted status to Mandelson against the advice of security officials when documents were provided to the Cabinet Office on Tuesday.

The Foreign Office did not tell the prime minister that they granted developed vetting status to Peter Mandelson against the advice of the security and vetting process. The prime minister was only made aware of that on Tuesday evening this week when the documents became available to the Cabinet Office as part of the humble address process (a binding motion to request government papers – JG).

No minister is allowed to see these vetting documents as a matter of principle because we employ security professionals to conduct deeply invasive personal investigations into people’s backgrounds and for those officials to make a recommendation to civil servants on the appointment and employment of individuals.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Darren Jones said he found out yesterday afternoon that the Foreign Office had overruled the vetting recommendation. He said:

Look I find this whole situation astonishing, I found this out yesterday afternoon… the Foreign Office and a small number of other organisations have the right to ignore the recommendations of security and vetting officials when appointing people to sensitive roles.

I immediately suspended the right last night for the Foreign Office and other organisations to be able to use that exemption.

Jones said security officials recommended that Mandelson was not appointed to the role but could not explain why.

I’ve not seen the documents or the detailed information. This is deeply personal information about financial, personal background and particular views and relationships. It’s normal for that information to be kept only by the security officials who conduct this work because it is so invasive into their personal lives.

Back on the morning rounds, Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, has been addressing the calls for Keir Starmer to go.

Starmer has not considered resigning and did not mislead Parliament, he said.

Asked on BBC Breakfast whether the Prime Minister is going to resign, and whether he has either knowingly or unknowingly misled Parliament, Jones responded “no”.

Jones explained that technically the process was followed correctly because UK Security Vetting undertake their investigations and then make a recommendation to the relevant sponsoring department, who then have the right to reject the recommendation.

As a result, he has now suspended the right for departments to ignore vetting recommendations.

Continuing her criticism of the prime minister, Badenoch told BBC Radio 4 Today’s programme: “The fact is all roads lead to a resignation.”

She said:

The fact is the prime minister is telling everyone that he was told [about the Foreign Office vetting decision] on Tuesday.

The Ministerial Code states that when a minister discovers… that parliament has been inadvertently misled they need to correct the record at the first opportunity. The first opportunity was on Wednesday morning at prime minister’s questions. He gave a long sermon about all sorts of things, refused to answer questions I asked him, and didn’t tell the house, that in itself is a breach of the ministerial code.

Claiming full due process was followed when it wasn’t – another breach, misleading parliament. Breaching the ministerial code by telling people the security services had cleared him.

The fact is all roads lead to a resignation.

It doesn’t matter what story the prime minister is telling, at some point there is deliberate dishonesty – whether it’s the cover up story or the original story – one of these is deliberate dishonesty, they cant all be true, and that’s why I know he is lying.

‘Preposterous’ to believe Starmer did not know about vetting decision, claims Badenoch

Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch in central Edinburgh yesterday

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservatives, has told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that she believes the prime minister is lying in his account of what happened.

It’s completely preposterous for us to believe that when the prime minister said on the floor of the house [of Commons] the full due process was followed that officials who knew that was not the case would not have told him. He knew.

It is preposterous for us to believe that on 5 February, him giving press conference saying that Mandelson was cleared by the security services nobody told him that actually that this was not the case.

It’s completely preposterious, the prime minister, the former chief prosecutor, did not ask basic questions, did not ask to look at the security vetting himself.

It’s also completely preposterous that civil servants would have cleared a political appointee who had failed security vetting. Mandelson was not a mandarin he was a Labour party grandee appointed to be our most senior diplomat and ambassador.

Badenoch added that is not believable that the documents had not been seen by parliament

We would not have found out about this if not for the Guardian.

The story does not stack up, the prime minister is taking us for fools.

Ed Davey earlier this month in London Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, is among voices calling for the PM to go.

He has said even if the prime minister’s explanation – that he was unaware of the Foreign Office’s decision to overrule Mandelson’s failed vetting until this week – is “true”, he should still resign.

Davey also warned that if the PM doesn’t go of his own volition, his party will “take action” in parliament to remove him.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Davey said:

I don’t think the prime minister can get out of his responsibility by sacking Olly Robbins – the buck has to stop with Mr Starmer.

I think frankly it’s inconceivable on such a sensitive matter the permeant secretary at the Foreign Office wouldn’t have referred to ministers on this.

It’s also a matter of national security, essentially the Foreign Office found that prime minister should not be given top secret information.

Davey said he believed the claim that the prime minister did not know about the Foreign Office’s move until this week was “not credible”.

Let’s imagine they are telling the truth and they did only just learn about this on Tuesday what does that say about the Governmenet and how they operate?

It means people around the prime minister were hiding critical information from him and he took this decision without meeting Mandelson, without knowing about his failed security but knowing about Mandelson’s reputation.

I think the evidence suggests he misled the commons and he misled the public that’s against all the rules and that’s why we’ve called for him to go and I think that if he doesn’t go, we’re going to have to take some action in parliament.

Davey likened the scenario to former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson’s final days in office.

It’s hard to believe it was inadvertent, it stretches credibility, but even if that is a true story it shows there was total negligence and incompetence at the top of his government…

The PM held the Conservatives to account when he was in opposition when Boris Johnson was clearly lying over partygate and Keir Starmer called for all the accountability and called for Boris Johnson to go… but I’m afraid now he he has to take his own medicine. All the evidence suggests he has to go.

Mandelson vetting decision “utterly unacceptable” – chief secretary to PM

Jones has told broadcasters the Foreign Office’s decision to overrule the security vetting findings was “utterly unacceptable”

He said he had ordered an urgent review after discovering that the Foreign Office and other Government departments the right to ignore security advice when appointing people to sensitive roles.

He told Sky News:

It is utterly unacceptable, not just in the individual case of Peter Mandelson and respect of the prime minister’s fury at the Foreign Office for not having taught him this information, but the very fact that their processes were in place that allow for that to happen in the first place.

That’s why in my role in the Cabinet Office, immediately last night, I suspended the rights for these organisations to make these judgments.

I’ve asked for an urgent review about what decisions these organisations have taken in the past to overrule the recommendations from UK security vetting, and I was due to announce a broader, independent review of the vetting process anyway. And this will now be part of that.

Earlier on ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme, Jones said he had suspended the rights of the Foreign Office to overrule security vetting recommendations. He said:

As soon as I found out last night that the Foreign Office and a small number of other organisations have the right to ignore the recommendation… I immediately suspended those rights and ordered an urgent audit.

What you need to know

The story about Mandelson’s vetting moved quickly overnight so here are the key developments you need to know about:

Yesterday evening, the Guardian exclusively revealed Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting clearance but the decision was overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post as ambassador to the US. According to multiple sources, Mandelson was initially denied clearance in late January 2025 after a developed vetting process, a highly confidential background check by security officials. Keir Starmer had by then announced he would be making Mandelson the UK’s chief diplomat in Washington, posing a dilemma for officials at the Foreign Office, who decided to use a rarely used authority to override the recommendation from security officials.

The Guardian also revealed that senior government officials have been considering whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents that show Mandelson failed the security vetting checks. Any such decision could amount to an extraordinary breach of a parliamentary vote, known as a humble address, that ordered the release of “all papers” relevant to Mandelson’s appointment. According to multiple sources, officials across government have been in dispute over whether to release documents that would reveal those facts, and other information about Mandelson’s security vetting, to the parliamentary intelligence and security committee (ISC).

The Guardian understands that Starmer – who insiders said was furious – first learned that Mandelson had failed security vetting on Tuesday this week, while then foreign secretary David Lammy learned about it when the Guardian broke the story two days later. Late on Thursday, Sir Olly Robbins, the UK Foreign Office’s top civil servant, has been forced out of his post over the decision. Robbins was the Foreign Office’s most senior official in late January 2025 when the decision was made, paving the way for Mandelson to become the US ambassador.

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Arrest over push of woman into bus's path in 2017

Published

58 minutes ago

June 15, 2026

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A 44-year-old man is in custody over the incident where a woman appeared to be shoved into the path of a bus.

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World Cup 2026: Fifa urged to remove official over hand gesture; teams hit back at Ceferin; Iran arrive in US – live | World Cup 2026

Published

2 hours ago

June 15, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Key events

More now on the hand gesture story mentioned earlier. Fifa’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for a video assistant referee to be removed for appearing to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign.

“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the Fare network, a longtime partner of Fifa and Uefa, the European football governing body, to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games, said in a statement. “Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,” Fare said in a statement, describing the gesture as “neo-Nazi.”

Kick-off times are more friendly for the UK viewer today. Spain v Cape Verdi at 5pm and Belgium v Egypt at 8pm. But we need to think globally so that’s 3pm for Cape Verdi viewers cheering on their team while in Egypt it’ll be 10pm for those tuning in to see if Mo Salah can inspire his team to victory over the Belgians.

The biggest test for the UK viewer today is Iran v New Zealand at 2am BST. In Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch that’ll be 1pm while in Tehran, Mashhad and Karaj it’s a less palatable 4.30am.

Thanks Sarah. As for World Cup songs, this one from the German 1990 squad always sticks in my mind. While England took the genre to a new level with New Order and John Barnes’ rap, the Germans very much went down the traditional route. A singer that looks like a cross between Chris de Burgh and Thomas Muller, Karl-Heinz Riedle on maracas, one or two playing air saxophone. Pleasingly dreadful.

The Germans’ response to New Order

I am off to grab some food and so I leave you in the hands of Dave Tindall who will take you through the next few hours of news. I’ll be back later on.

From requests of your favourite football songs to another on if you live in a World Cup host city. We want to hear from you if you have football teams in town from the atmosphere to how it is affecting business. Use the form on this page to get in touch:

We have another shout for the best/worst football song and I can’t decide which side of the forward slash this one belongs on. Graeme Neill said:

Timely given yesterday evening’s match. Japan’s Cornelius and his utterly bonkers Ball in Kick Off is worth a listen:

France will kick-off their tournament against Senegal on Tuesday and to say they have attacking quality is an understatement. The team boasts players like the captain, Kylian Mbappé, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Cherki but they all have a role to play, according to Adrien Rabiot. Read more:

Jacob Steinberg

The cat is well truly out of the bag. Nobody expected the conversation to be quite so revealing when Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers sat on the Lions’ Den sofa last week. Content controlled by the Football Association was an unlikely place for Bellingham to drop a few truth bombs, but the England midfielder was not minded to hold back when it was time to discuss his experience at Euro 2024.

“It didn’t feel like there was any kind of hierarchy,” the 22-year-old said. “I think at the Euros we got some things a little bit wrong off the pitch. I don’t feel like the group connected as well as it could have – for a number of reasons.”

Fifa urged to remove official over hand gesture

Fifa have been urged to remove a video review official who appeared to make a white supremacy hand gesture during Germany’s 7-1 win over Curaçao.

The governing body’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup called for Shaun Evans from Australia to be removed from the tournament.

The gesture was also spotted by several fans who posted about it on social media.

“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the Fare network said.

Fifa are yet to comment on the situation.

There have been some sights at the World Cup but Scotland fans taking over Fenway Park is one that has been one of the most surreal. The Boston Red Sox lost 6-4 to the Texas Rangers but Scotland fans stayed long after the game was over singing “super John McGinn” and during the match there was a rendition of “yes sir, I can boogie”.

Photograph: Mark Stockwell/AP

Anil Patel has emailed:

This absolute banger wasn’t attached to any particular team but is one of the best themes out there.

This is a great shout and a fun fact for you about it, it was initially written to be a baseball anthem. Some baseball news coming your way soon…

If anyone is unsure of the song I referenced, here it is:

Football songs can be iconic or occasionally cringey, that one with Dizzee Rascal and James Cordon comes to mind for the latter for me. What are your best/worst anthems for a major tournament? Get in touch and let me know.

England may have banished some penalty shootout demons in the last few major tournaments but the question of who would step up to take one is one that will always be asked. One such player who said he would take on is Eberechi Eze, despite missing one in the Champions League final. Have a read of what he said:

There will be many questions raised at this World Cup. Who will win the trophy? Who will claim the Golden Boot? What will the next standout moment be? But there is another question that has been answered in the following piece: Where have the WAGs gone?

Matt Hughes

Fox will not face any punishment from Fifa for breaking the governing body’s advertising rules during the opening game of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa last week.

The US broadcaster broke Fifa’s strict guidelines for showing commercials during hydration breaks on the first occasion they were in operation by returning to the live action 10 seconds after play had resumed during the second half at Mexico City Stadium.

Fifa’s tournament regulations, which were given to all rights holders two months ago, state that while broadcasters can show ads during hydration breaks they must return to the match 30 seconds before play resumes.

Sometimes a team needs a player to have some standout performances to jump start a tournament and Jordan Henderson believes that player for England will be Jude Bellingham. Henderson said:

I’m sure he will have a big impact for us in this tournament. I can remember five years ago I gave him his first cap, it was away at Middlesbrough. How much he’s grown, as a player and as a person since then, is incredible really. I had a good idea when I first saw him playing and training, and the way he was.

I think everybody forgets how young he is. We do rondos and it’s the youngest in, and there’s people that I think should be going in before him, but he’s always one of the first in the middle to go in. It just reminds us how young he is. I honestly couldn’t speak highly enough of him.

Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

The travel at this tournament has grabbed more than a few headlines so far and there is another one pertaining to Australia. The Socceroos beat Turkey 2-0 in their opening game with their second against one of the co-hosts, the US, on Friday. Their focus will be on that game but recovery is also high on their list. Read more here:

There have already been so many historic moments at this tournament, including Scotland’s first World Cup win in 36 years. Mo Salah is hoping to replicate the moment and end Egypt’s long wait of 92 years for a victory at the tournament. The team have their first game against Belgium today to try and make history:

Spain, who start their campaign today against Cabo Verde, are among the favourites to win the World Cup after their European Championship success in 2024. Here’s a piece on how the team are embracing the tag and how they are using one trophy-winning tournament to potentially lift another:

Uruguay will take on Saudia Arabia later today but their travel was delayed amid challenges across the tournament.

The team’s initial flight from Mexico was cancelled with their replacment delayed. The Uruguay captain, José María Giménez, described the situation as “difficult”.

There are more games to be played today with another four in store. The details for those kick-off times and match-ups are below but do get in touch to let me know what your World Cup routine is. Are you having to get up early to watch the games? Or are you in a time zone where you can get home from work and watch back-to-back football until it’s time for bed? Email me and let me know, here are today’s fixtures:

Spain v Cabo Verde (5pm BST, 12pm ET, 9am PT)
Belgium v Egypt (8pm BST, 3pm ET, 12pm PT)
Saudi Arabia v Uruguay (11pm BST, 6pm ET, 3pm PT)
Iran v New Zealand (2am BST, 9pm ET, 6pm PT)

So what happened in the matches yesterday? Four took place with the biggest win coming in Germany’s 7-1 dismantling of Curaçao. The island nation will be disappointed with the result but they also made history as they scored their first-ever World Cup goal. That came from Livano Comenencia, who plays his club football for Zürich. Have a read of that report and others for all the latest action on pitch:

Čeferin criticised for ‘uninteresting’ comment

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin was criticised by multiple nations from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean after reportedly saying the expanded World Cup creates “uninteresting” matches.

According to Zurnal 24, the boss said at a conference last Monday: “We have a huge number of matches that are completely uninteresting.”

The associations of Cape Verde, Congo, Curaçao, Haiti, Jordan and Uzbekistan released a joint statement, which was in solidarity with the federations of Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.

It said: “Football does not belong to a select group of nations. Its strength comes from its universality,” the statement said. “For many countries, participation in the FIFA World Cup is not only a sporting achievement. It is a moment that inspires a generation, accelerates football development and creates memories that last a lifetime.”

Photograph: Toya Sarno Jordan/FIFA/Getty Images

Ben Fisher

The Iran striker Mehdi Taremi has said the controversy and disruption surrounding their involvement at the World Cup undermines Fifa’s message of peace and conceded he felt the tension before arriving in Los Angeles on the eve of their opener, hours before a peace deal was announced. For the first time since the competition’s inception, a host nation has received a country with which it is at war.

On Sunday Iran flew to LA from Tijuana, Mexico, where they were relocated amid an ongoing row over visas, but are expected to face opposition from Iranians, many of whom believe the national team do not represent the country. Iran has been beset by problems in the buildup to the tournament, with several officials denied entry to the US.

Preamble

Hello and welcome to today’s World Cup news blog where we bring you the latest updates from the global event being hosted across the US, Canada and Mexico.

Any breaking news, team updates or reflections on what has happened so far will be all here for you to feast on, no matter what you are doing with your Monday.

Please do get in touch too, we always like to hear from readers. Potentially on the best underdog story at the World Cup or any quirky predictions you may have for the tournament.

Amongst several stories surrounding the competition today is Iran’s arrival in the US. The team landed on Sunday before they take on New Zealand.

More details on that story will be with you shortly, as well as the reports from the games that took place yesterday to catch up on all the latest action.

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