UK News: Douglas Alexander defends PM ahead of Commons showdown over Mandelson scandal
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Judgment day for PM over Mandelson scandal
David Lammy, the deputy PM and justice secretary who was foreign secretary when Peter Mandelson was made ambassador to the US, has said that he was never told that Mandelson failed the security vetting interview. Mandelson’s was only technically approved because Olly Robbins, the head of Foreign Office, exercised his discretion to ignore the recommendation from the people doing the vetting.
Lammy gave his account of this in an interview with Pippa Crerar.
The problem ultimately is caused by the prime minister choosing an ambassador with a known integrity problem. Everybody understood that about Peter Mandelson, if you look at his past record.
I’m not criticising his abilities, but as the talisman for New Labour, he had a very dodgy series of relationships. We won’t go into that. So there should have been, the prime minister should have thought through before announcing the appointment how he was going to manage that aspect of choosing Mandelson. Continue reading…
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