Skip to content
TrackPodcasts
newsApr 28, 202611:41

“Get On With It”: How Keir Starmer’s Team Moved Mandelson Forward Despite Red Flags (4/28/26)

About this episode

A former senior Foreign Office official told lawmakers that he was instructed to move ahead with appointing Peter Mandelson despite raising concerns during the vetting process, including issues connected to Mandelson’s associations and the potential political fallout. According to his testimony, he was effectively told to “get on with it,” signaling that the decision had already been made at higher levels and that standard caution around security clearance and reputational risk was being overridden.

The disclosure has fueled criticism that the appointment process was rushed and that proper scrutiny was sidelined in favor of political priorities. Officials acknowledged that red flags existed but indicated there was little willingness to delay or reconsider the decision, even with Epstein-related concerns lingering in the background. The episode has since raised broader questions about how seriously vetting procedures are taken when they conflict with political objectives, and whether accountability mechanisms within the government were bypassed.


to contact me:

[email protected]



source:

Former foreign office chief was told to ‘get on’ with appointing Mandelson despite his worries over links with Epstein | LBC

Get every episode summarized

Each time The Vault: The Epstein Files publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.

Email me new episodes

Free for 3 shows. No card needed.

Hosts & guests

Transcript ready

115 searchable segments. Every word is indexed and playable.

“Get On With It”: How Keir Starmer’s Team Moved Mandelson Forward Despite Red Flags (4/28/26)

The Vault: The Epstein Files

0:00
11:41

Full transcript

The Vault: The Epstein Files“Get On With It”: How Keir Starmer’s Team Moved Mandelson Forward Despite Red Flags (4/28/26). Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.

What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode we're going to hop across the pond and check in on the situation that is threatening to bring down Kira Starmer, especially now that the former foreign office chief says that he was told to get on with appointing Mandelson despite his own worries that he had ties to Epstein and that directive came from Kira Starmer's office according to the reporting. And if that's the case then Kira Starmer's whole narrative is absolutely cooked. So when is Kira Starmer going to do the right thing and step down because it's obvious that you've been lying about this from the very beginning? Today's article was published by LBC and the headline. The former foreign office chief was told to get on with appointing Mandelson despite his worries over links with Epstein.

This article was authored by Asher McShane. Sir Philip Barton told MPs today I was presented with the decision and told to get on with it. There was no space for dialogue. I had a concern that a man who demonstrably from the public record at the time and it was clearly much bigger than we all knew had a link to Epstein and that Epstein through both the presidential election campaign in the US and more generally in US politics had been and was a controversial figure and I was worried that this could become a problem in the future and he was told to get on with it. So that tells me and it should tell you that Kira Starmer didn't really care. They thought this was done. Keep that in mind. They thought this story was done and over and they were never going to have to deal with it again. They thought it was effectively buried but the discharge petition changed everything because that forced the hand of the DOJ.

They couldn't slow walk it. They couldn't you know pick and choose. Well they did but the law says they can't on what they're going to release. They have to release all files that fall under the umbrella of what the law states and obviously they haven't done that but the ones they have released have been quite damaging for people like Peter Mandelson especially when you consider he was passing off confidential information in emails to Jeffrey Epstein when he was in a position of authority and in a position where he was representing the UK government and who the hell knows if that's the worst of it. Who else did Mandelson pass information on to? That is a very candid account of what I was thinking at the time but there was no space or avenue or a mechanism for me to put that on the table. A decision had been taken. It was a political decision. Oh this is bad for Starmer 100%. This is the kind of thing that should chase them from office

and then you look at everything else going on over in the UK where it's certainly not roses and rainbows. And you come away thinking to yourself, how does the guy like Starmer survive this? Because I have a hard time believing that he comes out of this. I think that Starmer is absolutely cooked. He said that the normal order is vetting and then announcement asked if he knew why the process was reversed in Lord Peter Mandelson's case. He told the Foreign Affairs Committee know the timing of the announcement was driven and decided by number 10. So he's blaming Keir Starmer and the Prime Minister's office. And I would too. If I was being made the scapegoat, I'd be blabbing my fat-yap too. While it wasn't me, they told me to do this. I advised against it. But my boss said that we have to do it so here we are. And that's basically what this dude's saying. Sir Keir Starmer is facing claims. He misled Parliament for saying that full-do process was followed in Lord Mandelson's appointment when it obviously wasn't. So he lied to Parliament.

And I'm pretty sure that's a big deal over in the UK. You can't lie to Parliament just like you can't lie to Congress, especially if you're the President or the Prime Minister. Forget it, the political fallout that comes with something like this is career-ending or should be. He also said that the cabinet office initially suggested Lord Peter Mandelson did not need high level security clearance to be the US ambassador. Say what now? He doesn't need high level security clearance. How's he going to have meetings with his counterpart and report back to the UK authorities? What does that even mean? Sure looks like a massage job to me. And it looks like the UK government just wanted to get their guy in and they were willing to steamroll the whole process in order to do it. I mean that's what it looks like from the outside looking in. Sir Philip told the Foreign Affairs Committee of MPs, as we're taking forward the practical steps required. The cabinet office initially said that as Mandelson was to use the technical

phrase from the guidance of fit and proper person. As a member of the House and Lords, he did not require develop vetting. Oh well, in that case, if you were born rich and you're part of the House and Lords, you don't need any more vetting. Must be nice. Yo Mandelson's like that feudal lord who would show up at your village and take all of your crop. Leave you with like one turnip and five carrots. That's the kind of guy Mandelson is. And to think that Kira Starmer thought it would be a good idea to have this guy as the ambassador to the United States is a fireable offense on its own in my opinion. I mean to be honest with you, I thought that was odd and insufficient. I'd been deputy ambassador in Washington and therefore occasionally in charge. I knew very well to do the job effectively. You have to be party to some of the deepest secrets that the UK government holds. And that's what I was just saying. How could you be ambassador and not have a clearance? That's ridiculous. And even suggest that is just absurd. And whoever made that decision,

whoever made that suggestion, they should have their clearance yanked because they're obviously not qualified to be in the position that they're in. I'm sure the folks over in the UK are very, very confident in their security apparatus after hearing this shit. But I also recognize that the situation was unusual. And therefore I asked for advice, although it was pretty clear in my mind from FCDO foreign commonwealth and development office security team. They came back to me after discussions with the cabinet office and said that their advice was that he should have DV developed vetting. And I absolutely agreed with that. And if they would have done that, they could have avoided this whole entire nightmare. But instead the UK chose to keep that cover up rolling. And if you don't think we're going to expose their cover up, you're crazy. The rug's getting pulled here too because I want you to keep in mind that all of this is part of the same story. These are just different threads over in the UK, over in Paris, Europe, wherever

they all come from the same strand. But they're just different threads that run off the main strand, but it's all connected. And when I tell you that this cover up is vast and it's intercontinental, this is what I mean. Elsewhere in his evidence, Sir Philip told the committee he had learned the government wanted to appoint Lord Mandelson to the post on December 15th, 2024. And that had due diligence process, but not developed vetting had been carried out to deem them suitable for the job, suitable for dog catcher maybe, ambassador to the United States, more like ambassador to fucking Pluto. Sir Kira Starmer has pleaded with labor MPs to reject a bid for parliamentary sleaze inquiry into Lord Mandelson's vetting scandal as he faces another moment of peril over the future of his premier ship, as he should. Look Kira Starmer's in charge, right? He's the man at the top. He made the decision. He hired Peter Mandelson. Now he has to own it. Or is that only for

the rest of us? Like is there no more self responsibility whatsoever? Because sometimes I feel like I'm the only person that takes responsibility for my own bullshit. Let me be very clear with you. Just about every problem that I've ever had in my life has been self-created. My own dumbass getting in my own way. And the same's true here. What? Because Kira Starmer is some prime minister. He doesn't step on his own dick. Most certainly does. And this whole entire situation is a self-inflicted wound. The Commons will vote on Tuesday on whether the privileges committee should consider if the prime minister misled the house by claiming due process was followed in appointing the former labor grandiose U.S. ambassador despite failing his security vetting. How could there be no misconduct here? Like seriously, how could there be none? Now I doubt they're going to hold Mandelson responsible

because I just I'm cynical about it all. What I want to happen and what I think are going to happen are two very different things. And I'm not going to sit here and bullshit you guys all day and tell you a bunch of fairy tales so that people are engaged. I'm going to tell you what I think and not only that, I'm going to show you how I arrive at those opinions. Now does that mean they're all right? Hell no, it doesn't. But if you follow the evidence wherever it leads, I promise you you're going to be better off for it. A large-scale effort appeared underway by Monday evening to rally support from the back benches with former labor prime minister Gordon Brown also urging the party to backstarmor. All about politics. All about politics. And it's really pathetic and it's why I find it laughable when people are like, well, the UK and Europe, they're getting busy, are they? Where are they just stalling? Because it would seem to me that there'd be a big push from everybody in the UK at this point to get rid of starmor. But instead,

what do you see? People rallying around them, circling the wagons and defending his nonsense, all because they're from the same party. I'll never understand it. If you can't hold your own accountable, how do you expect us to believe that you're going to hold anybody accountable, especially if it's somebody that you quote unquote dislike? How do we know what your motivations are? When it comes to Epstein, either you're all the way in or you're all the way out. There's no neutrality, there's no fence sitting. Those days are over because as it currently stands, there's only two sides when it comes to this story. You're either on the side of truth and transparency, or you're on the side of the Epstein class, and from the way Kira Starmor and the Labour Party are conducting themselves, it would seem that they've made their decision. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.

More episodes

More from The Vault: The Epstein Files

View all episodes →