Judgment day as Starmer faces Commons showdown over Mandelson scandal

Keir Starmer will deliver a high-stakes statement to MPs on Monday as he struggles to overcome fears inside his government that the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal could yet cost him his leadership.In what is set to be a dramatic showdown, the prime minister will set out how Mandelson was able to take up his role as UK ambassador without the Foreign Office revealing it had overruled the decision to fail his vetting.The scandal, first revealed by the Guardian last week, has already led to the sacking of the top civil servant at the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, who is expected to appear before MPs on Tuesday in what could be another moment of grave peril for Starmer.Ministers spent the weekend trying to shore up Starmer’s position after opposition party leaders called for him to quit over the affair, arguing he would not have gone ahead with sending Mandelson to Washington had he known.But senior government figures are concerned that this week could be make-or-break for the prime minister – despite him being bolstered by his handling of the Iran crisis – if more damaging information should emerge or if sceptical Labour MPs should finally lose faith

Starmer is facing his judgment day over Mandelson missteps

Keir Starmer has spent much of the last 24 hours working on a plan for what senior government figures are already describing as his “judgment day”: his showdown with MPs on Monday over the latest Peter Mandelson revelations.That the prime minister was apparently not told of Mandelson’s vetting failure has provoked incredulity across Westminster and accusations he sacked a senior civil servant to save his premiership.It has also shone a spotlight again on what many feel is Starmer’s biggest failing: his political judgment. Even though some proclaimed Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s latest “Trump whisperer” a stroke of genius at the time, the risks were always clear.It was common knowledge Starmer’s pick for UK ambassador to Washington had been sacked from cabinet twice, had an ongoing relationship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had business links with China

Ministers urged to share Mandelson vetting files with intelligence committee

Ministers are under growing pressure to share the documents from Peter Mandelson’s vetting process with the parliamentary committee tasked with deciding if they should be made public.In February, MPs passed a binding parliamentary motion, known as a humble address, requiring the government to publish “all papers” relating to Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US.The motion made an exemption for documents “prejudicial to UK national security or international relations”, which would be given to the Intelligence and Security Committee, a trusted nine-person group of MPs and peers who oversee the activities of the intelligence agencies.Officials within the Cabinet Office have discussed for weeks how to comply with the terms of the humble address because it would be “unprecedented” to disclose details of Mandelson’s developed vetting process.As the Guardian revealed last week, United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) decided that Mandelson should be denied clearance but that advice was overruled by the Foreign Office so he could take up his post

UK seeks EU deals on steel and EVs in push for closer economic ties

Downing Street hopes to secure deals on steel and electric cars with the EU as it seeks to upgrade the post-Brexit economic relationship.Amid economic uncertainty caused by the conflict in the Middle East and strains in relations with the US, Keir Starmer is seeking closer economic ties with the EU.The UK wants agreements on steel and electric vehicles to avoid British industry being disadvantaged by scheduled changes to trade rules.The EU this week agreed trade restrictions on steel imports in response to a glut of artificially cheap Chinese imports that have depressed global prices. The UK, which is one of the EU’s biggest markets, is not the target, but will be hurt by the higher tariffs, which come into force on 1 July

Starmer would have blocked Mandelson appointment if he had known about failed vetting, ministers say – as it happened

Keir Starmer would have withdrawn Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US if he had known he had not passed security vetting, Liz Kendall said, even if it was close to Donald Trump’s inauguration.Kendall told Laura Kuenssberg on BBC One that Starmer would have rescinded the job offer if he had been told – regardless of the timing ahead of Trump taking up the presidency.She said: “If the prime minister had known that UK security vetting had not cleared him, the appointment would have been withdrawn.“It would’t have mattered how close that was to the president’s inauguration or any of that, I believe that because there is no way that the prime minister would have continued with it, had he known the facts that he now knows.”That’s all for today, as the saga from Peter Mandelson’s appointment continues and piles more pressure on Keir Starmer

How Reform is exposing the reality of Scotland’s views on immigration and identity

It’s Monday evening in Aberdeen, and George Preston is wearing his union flag suit to the Reform UK rally. He joined the party in 2024 as it gained ground in the north-east of Scotland with its first councillor defections from the Scottish Conservatives.Now Preston is out leafleting for the party that polls suggest is vying with Scottish Labour to become the official opposition to the Scottish National party in the Holyrood elections on 7 May.“Very, very few have said: ‘Have this back,’” he says. “Far more are supportive