Starmer Faces Crisis Over Mandelson's Security Vetting

0:00On April 18, two top civil servants, Dame Antony Aromio and Cat Little, are pushing back hard after claims they hid Peter Mendelssohn's failed, security vetting from Prime Minister's Sir Kear Starmer. They learned last month that security officials flagged issues with Mendelssohn's U.S. Ambassador appointment tied to his Jeffrey Epstein connections, but the Foreign Office overruled it anyway. Starmer says he had no clue until Tuesday and fired the Foreign Office's top guy, Sir Oli Robbins, on Thursday. These officials insist they didn't sit on the info. They waited for legal checks to avoid messing with the police probe in to Mendelssohn. By late March, Little got the document, looped in Romeo, and they consulted lawyers and the Foreign Office on why clearance was granted against. Advice. Up to a dozen people knew, but they moved fast to brief Starmer once cleared. The fallouts hitting Starmer's credibility, with opposition leaders like Kimmy Badenak demanding his resignation, accusing him of misleading Parliament.

1:00It's raising big questions about who's really running the show in his government, especially since he called himself absolutely furious at the Foreign Office override. Now a former Foreign Office permanent secretary, Lord Simon McDonald, is defending Sacked Robbins, saying he followed rules and Starmer just wanted a quick scalp. McDonald calls this the biggest diplomatic crisis in over 40 years, and slams number 10 for not hearing Robbins out. Starmer faces MPs on Monday to explain, then Robbins testifies Tuesday could be maker break as he fights the steady his ship amid the blame game.