Helen Pitt

But the fact remains, he appointed Peter Mandelson before this advanced security vetting was even in train.

Did he say anything about why he did that and whether that's something that he now regrets?

What unanswered questions remain for you after having listened to Keir Starmer in Parliament?

It's probably worth a reminder of just what Starmer has said in the past, whether that was in the Houses of Parliament or to journalists.

He said on one occasion security vetting carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave him clearance for the role.

He also said full due process was followed during this appointment as it is with all ambassadors, which sounds pretty definitive.

We are expecting to hear from Ollie Robbins himself when he will address a parliamentary committee.

And I guess one of the questions that he will be asked was whether he was doing his job by not telling Keir Starmer, you know, whether he failed in his duty by not filling Starmer in, because that's an outside you think, well, come on, you've got to tell the Prime Minister about something like this.

So should he have told him and could he have told him?

And he's lost his job.

I thought it was quite interesting watching Labour MPs in Parliament on Monday.

Emily Thornberry, who is the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said that getting Peter Madison the job was a priority that overrode everything else, which speaks to what you've just said about Ollie Robbins doing everything he could to please Keir Starmer.

And she said that security considerations were very much second order.

What do you make of how the Labour Party is responding to this scandal?

Because it's come at a terrible time for them, hasn't it?

Ahead of the Scottish, Welsh and local elections.

Coming up, will this saga ultimately be what does for Keir Starmer?

Starmer, as we've discussed, is clearly intent on laying the blame for this debacle at the door of the Foreign Office and Ollie Robbins in particular.

What do you think this tells us about Starmer's judgment and how he operates as a Prime Minister?

Yeah, that's why McSweeney ultimately resigned, wasn't it?