Civil service union Prospect has expressed concerns that Downing Street allowed the professionalism of officials at UK Security Vetting to be called into question over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington DC.
It emerged yesterday that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office overruled a UKSV “developed vetting” recommendation not to appoint Mandelson to the role in January last year – allowing him to take up the post. Eight months later prime minister Keir Starmer sacked Mandelson after further revelations about his friendship with paedophile and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were published.
No.10 has claimed that Starmer only found out this week that FCDO effectively ignored UKSV’s recommendations and used its powers to push ahead with approving Mandelson’s appointment. The move has cost FCDO perm sec Sir Olly Robbins his job.
Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney resigned in February following pressure over his role in Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.
Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said the debacle surrounding Mandelson’s security clearance for the Washington job had caused the professionalism of vetting staff to be tainted in recent months.
“It is deeply unfortunate that, following the resignation of Morgan McSweeney, Downing Street allowed the impression to circulate that the vetting of Peter Mandelson had not been done correctly by UK Security Vetting,” Clancy said.
“Not only were UKSV put in an invidious position by being asked to conduct vetting after an appointment had been announced, but now deeply troubling reports have appeared in the media claiming that UKSV advice was overruled.”
He added: “Civil servants, particularly those working in the most sensitive parts of government, cannot speak publicly and deserve ministers to take responsibility for the decisions they take and not to seek to deflect blame onto them.”
Starmer originally announced that Mandelson was his preferred pick as UK ambassador to Washington DC in December 2024, before vetting had been conducted.
At the time, Robbins had not taken up post as FCDO perm sec. UKSV’s recommendation that Mandelson should not be cleared to take up post as ambassador was apparently overruled in late January 2025, when Robbins was boss at King Charles Street.
Last month the Cabinet Office published a 147-page document of papers related to Mandelson’s Washington appointment as an initial response to a “humble address” from members of parliament.
It showed that Starmer was warned in December 2024 that Mandelson posed a “reputational risk” because of his association with Epstein, who died in 2019.
The document also referenced concerns from national security adviser Jonathan Powell and Sir Philip Barton, who was FCDO permanent secretary at the time Mandelson’s appointment was proposed.
The bundle includes minutes of “fact finding” calls conducted by Mike Ostheimer, general counsel to the prime minister, with senior figures in the Starmer administration on 12 September last year, the day after Mandelson was sacked.
One of the conversations is with Powell. According to the document, he described Mandelson’s appointment as having been “unusual” and "weirdly rushed”. It states that Powell recalled that Barton “also had reservations around the appointment”.
UKSV’s recommendation on Mandelson has yet to be published.