Starmer not resigning over new scandal with ex-ambassador to US

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is not going to resign over the scandal involving the vetting of the country's former ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, his chief secretary Darren Jones told the BBC, UNN reports.

Details

When asked if the British Prime Minister was going to resign or had considered such a possibility, Jones replied "no." He added that the Prime Minister had not misled Parliament either knowingly or unknowingly.

This is because the UK Security Vetting conducts its investigations and then provides a recommendation to the department, which can reject this recommendation, which is an acceptable procedure, he explained.

Jones said it was "staggering" that the country's Foreign Office "was allowed" to overturn a recommendation that Mandelson should not be granted access to classified information.

When asked whether Starmer had misled Parliament, Jones again replied "no," as Starmer had been informed by the country's Foreign Office that Mandelson had been granted access to classified information.

The country's government learned that Mandelson had failed after recently requesting UK Security Vetting recommendations from the country's Foreign Office.

Addition

The ministry's most senior civil servant, Olly Robbins, is set to leave his post after it emerged that the Foreign Office had not informed Starmer that Mandelson had failed a security check when appointed ambassador to US.

10 Downing Street, the office of the British Prime Minister, claims that Starmer learned about this on Tuesday.

Starmer urged to resign over US ambassador appointment scandal17.04.26, 03:19 • 12091 view

Opposition parties have called on the British Prime Minister to resign – the Liberal Democrats say Starmer showed "catastrophic short-sightedness"; the Conservatives say Starmer's explanation is "ridiculous"; the Reform Party says there is "no doubt" that he misled MPs.