Starmer's Rushed Mandelson Appointment Under Scrutiny

0:00Former foreign office head Sir Oli Robbins testified that Prime Minister Kier Starmer's team pushed hard to speed up security checks for Lord Peter. Mandelson's appointment as UK ambassador to the United States. Robbins got fired last week over the mess, but he told lawmakers there was constant chasing from top offices to get Mandelson in place fast, despite. Red flags in his vetting. Robbins said the vetting team saw Mandelson as a borderline risk and leaned against clearing him, but officials overruled it anyway. He stressed they followed a process and figured they could handle any issues that came up. Now Starmer faces growing calls to step down after admitting he made a bad call on the pick. He claims he only learned the full story last week and has kicked off a review of any security leaks from Mandelson's time on the job. This all ties back to Mandelson's name popping up in Jeffrey Epstein documents from January with emails hinting he shared sensitive info back in two. 2009, police arrested him in February for possible misconduct, though he denies

1:01everything and faces no sex crime charges. Meanwhile, the fallout keeps building as investigations roll on, leaving Starmer's government scrambling to contain the damage from this rushed. Diplomatic gamble. I'm Cory with the story and you've been listening to Sydney News today. AI-powered local news.