Keir Starmer furious over Peter Mandelson appointment vetting failures; official resigns

On 2026-04-17, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was "absolutely furious" that the Foreign Office had not told him Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting before his appointment. He blamed the Whitehall process and said he would provide parliament with the relevant facts on Monday. The row followed the resignation of top Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins over the vetting failure.