Lucy Fisher

And we've already seen that due diligence document published in the first tranche of disclosure from the Cabinet Office, which is going through all the documents and details around Mandelson's appointment.

And it did indeed throw up possible reputational risks.

So, you know, again, it comes back to Starmer's door.

Given that was thrown up, why did he press ahead with appointing Mandelson at the time?

Well, you know, he was the permanent secretary.

He was a career civil servant, very highly rated.

He'd been, you know, the government's chief Brexit negotiator under Theresa May.

He had left Whitehall to go into the private sector, where, again, he was seen to be doing, you know, very well, but returned, I think, initially applied for the cabinet secretary role, which he lost out on to Chris Wormholtz.

back in 2024, but the Foreign Office Permanent Secretary role was coming free, so he was appointed there.

Lots of issues at the Foreign Office that needed to be gripped, including headcount reductions ordered by central government.

So not an easy task, and therefore, you know, some diplomats I've spoken to today stressed not a lot of love for Robbins or upset that he's gone, given that he was having to preside over this programme of heavy cuts at the department.

Well, I think there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes to establish who knew what when.

I think Yvette Cooper, the suggestion is that this morning reports are saying that she only found out about this when the story broke yesterday.

Given that Keir Starmer was asked to stand up at the dispatch box to talk about the vetting issue in recent months, question marks about whether even if he didn't know personally, did people around him, key civil servants or political advisers know?

So

That process of discovery, who knew what when, I think will go on today and into the weekend.

I don't think they'll get answers, but certainly they will ramp up pressure and it will add to a lot of the nervousness that is felt not just in the opposition, but on Labour's front and back benches today.

You know, a lot of consternation about what this means for Starmer.

And just at a moment where people thought that some of the speculation about his future was simmering down, you know, even though Labour is expecting dire results at the Scottish, Welsh and English council elections on May the 7th.

I think there had been this sense in the parliamentary Labour Party that with the Iran war and the geopolitical backdrop looking so turbulent right now, there had come to some sort of consensus in the party that now was not a good time to sort of try and change leader.