UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer denies misleading parliament over the failed Washington envoy appointment, blaming officials for hiding key security information.
LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer has denied misleading parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK envoy to Washington.
He instead accused officials of deliberately hiding information that the Labour politician had been denied security clearance.
Starmer admitted he was wrong to appoint the 72-year-old. “At the heart of this, there is also a judgment I made that was wrong.
“I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson,” he told MPs.
The prime minister insisted he and other ministers were not told about the failed security checks until last week. He claimed officials in the Foreign Office made a deliberate decision to withhold the information.
“It beggars belief that throughout the whole timeline of events, officials in the Foreign Office saw fit to withhold this information from the most senior ministers in our system, in government,” Starmer said. “I was not provided with information I should have been provided with. Had I been provided, I wouldn’t have made the decision.”
Two lawmakers were removed from the parliamentary session for accusing Starmer of lying. Left-winger Zarah Sultana called the prime minister “a bare-faced liar” before being ordered out by the speaker.
The scandal has triggered fresh calls for Starmer’s resignation from opposition leaders. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said serious questions remained about what Starmer knew and when.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the prime minister had made a catastrophic error of judgment. He argued the only decent thing to do was for Starmer to take responsibility and resign.
Senior ministers have rallied around the embattled prime minister. Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander suggested Mandelson was seen as an unconventional ambassador for an unconventional US administration.
Other ministers have argued Starmer should remain in power amid global tumult. The prime minister sacked Foreign Office top civil servant Olly Robbins last Thursday and initiated a review of the vetting process.
Starmer sacked Mandelson in September 2025 after new details emerged about his ties to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. UK police are investigating separate historical allegations of misconduct in office against Mandelson, which he denies.
The prime minister and the Labour party face a potentially chastening set of local elections next month. Polls suggest Starmer is one of Britain’s most unpopular prime ministers ever.
