LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) – Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy signalled his support for Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday over the ongoing row about the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States.
Labour veteran Mandelson was appointed as ambassador by Starmer and subsequently sacked over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a scandal that has brought the British leader’s judgement into question.
Starmer on Friday faced renewed pressure to resign after the government said security vetting had recommended Mandelson not be appointed, but that Foreign Office officials had overruled that recommendation without the prime minister’s knowledge.
Lammy, who was in charge of the Foreign Office at the time and is now deputy prime minister and justice secretary, told the Guardian newspaper it was inexplicable Starmer had not been informed of the initial vetting recommendation.
“I have absolutely no doubt at all, knowing the PM as I do, that had he known that Peter Mandelson had not passed the vetting, he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador,” Lammy told the newspaper.
The comments come ahead of a statement in parliament on Monday afternoon in which Starmer has promised to set out the full facts of what happened.
While political opponents have said his version of events is not credible and called for him to resign, senior members of his own Labour Party – including those seen as rivals for his position – have not publicly criticised him.
A lawyer for Mandelson did not provide a comment on Thursday when the Guardian newspaper first reported he had failed part of the vetting process.
(Reporting by William JamesEditing by Rod Nickel)
