Starmer-Mandelson live: Trump questions PM’s judgement as Olly Robbins set to hit back over vetting scandal

Speaking to the BBC, Ed Miliband repeated his earlier claims that he had in fact “warned” government ministers of his concerns before Peter Mandelson’s appointment.

The energy minister said he “did not want Peter Mandelson in my orbit” when he became Labor leader in 2010, adding that those in the party “knew my view” of the former Labor member.

When asked whether he had warned the Prime Minister directly, he said: “I did not have a direct meeting with him, I talked to other people in the government about this issue.

“I had a long history with Peter Mandelson. When I became Labor leader in 2010, I said I didn’t want Peter Mandelson in my orbit for a variety of reasons, so maybe I wasn’t necessarily the person people were asking for.

“I think people know my opinion of Peter Mandelson.”

The chairman of the International Development Committee said he was concerned “trust may have been broken” between ministers and civil servants following the scandal over the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

Labor MP Sarah Champion told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that she believed Sir Keir Starmer did not know Lord Mandelson had failed vetting checks before finding out last week.

He also said he believed Sir Olly Robbins, the sacked senior civil servant accused of keeping the Prime Minister in the dark, felt obliged to follow procedure.

Ms Champion told the programme: “To be honest, I would prefer this all to be done behind closed doors with a quick investigation.

“I don’t like having a very senior civil servant take on the burden of this. It’s an HR and procedure issue and I really think it should be done quietly and not publicly.”

“I can say that the results will definitely be published but this is not a normal procedure when it comes to any HR personnel issue.

“From my perspective, the two things I am most concerned about are the security risks that Lord Mandelson may or may not expose us to and, accordingly, our reputation, but it is also about our relationship with civil servants going forward.

“Ministers are incredibly dependent on them and I worry that level of trust may have been broken.”

He added that a leadership challenge was “absolutely the last thing we want right now.”

Ed Miliband has insisted Sir Keir Starmer must resist calls to resign over the Peter Mandelson scandal.

The energy minister admitted the prime minister made a mistake in appointing the former Labor member as US ambassador, but defended his position as leader.

“You ask me whether Keir Starmer should resign because of Lord Mandelson’s appointment, and I tell you, no, I don’t think he should.”

He added: “If a prime minister resigned every time he made a mistake, we’d be going back and forth between prime ministers like nobody’s business.”

With the best will in the world, it wouldn’t be ideal for a prime minister to go to the House of Commons and argue that he wasn’t lying to MPs for the unsatisfactory reason that he didn’t know what was going on in his own government.

There was laughter early in his statement, which was heard in stunned silence, when Sir Keir Starmer declared that the events he had carefully described were “incredible”. Maybe it’s because, as the old saying goes, if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry.

Sir Keir claimed, without using the term, that he was the victim of a “cover-up” carried out by Foreign Office officials and, in particular, the former head of the diplomatic service, Sir Olly Robbins. But Sir Olly can say he is trying to help ministers and stick to the law as he understands it. Soon he too will have a say.

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Ed Miliband has claimed he spoke to David Lammy about his concerns about Peter Mandelson before his appointment as US ambassador.

The energy minister told Sky News he had “grown away” from Mandelson when he was Labor leader and feared his decision to give him the job in Washington at the time would “explode”.

When asked if she had told anyone about her concerns, she said: “I spoke to David Lammy about it before the appointment.”

Mr. Lammy was foreign minister at the time of Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the United States.

Asked what he had said, Mr Miliband added: “I think he was worried about that too.”

Ed Miliband speaks to broadcasters this morning and answers questions for the government on what is expected to be a difficult day for Sir Keir Starmer.

The energy minister reiterated that Peter Mandelson “should never have been appointed” as US ambassador.

“This has been a very damaging event for the government,” he told Sky News.

“I’m sure Keir feels he and lessons need to be learned about who gets appointed… and indeed about the review process.

“Keir Starmer has taken responsibility for this flawed judgment in appointing Peter Mandelson and he was right to examine the ins and outs in this way.”

Analysis by Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin

MPs will today hear criticism that the prime minister has been “thrown under the bus” over Peter Mandelson’s failed scrutiny scandal, after Sir Keir Starmer gave his side of the story yesterday.

The Prime Minister spent much of yesterday criticizing Sir Olly Robbins in the House of Commons.

Today he has a chance to put forward his side of the story as he testifies to the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee.

Allies of Sir Olly, who was dramatically sacked by the Prime Minister over last week’s row, insist he believes he has done nothing wrong.

As a successful career officer, he is expected to be knowledgeable about what happened and when it happened.

It will be a tense time for number 10 this morning.

The Guardian reported that the Intelligence and Security Committee, a cross-party group of parliamentarians examining security issues, had received review documents regarding Lord Mandelson.

This precedent was flagged as “high concern” by UKSV and it was recommended that it be refused permission, the Guardian reported.

The Government is investigating security concerns about Lord Mandelson’s time as US ambassador, Sir Keir told the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.

It also said the terms of the Government vetting inquiry had been updated in light of the latest revelations about Lord Mandelson and that the inquiry would be led by Sir Adrian Fulford, the senior judge and chairman of the Southport Inquiry.

US President Donald Trump was seen supporting Sir Keir.

He wrote on the Truth Social platform: “UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has admitted that he ‘made the wrong decision’ when choosing his Ambassador to Washington.

“I admit, it was a really bad choice. But he has plenty of time to heal! President DJT”