Keir Starmer facing further pressure on his premiership
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Now, Keir Starmer is facing further pressure on his premiership. He's facing a really crucial vote today. MPs are voting on whether there should be a parliamentary inquiry into his handling of the Peter Mandelson vetting row. As all of that is happening, Morgan McSweeney is giving evidence right now in front of MPs at Westminster. He has said that advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson was a serious error of judgment. Here he is speaking at the Foreign Affairs Committee.
The appointment of Mandelson as ambassador was a serious error of judgment. I advised the Prime Minister in support of that appointment and I was wrong to do so.
What pressure is Keir Starmer facing regarding his premiership?
It is also important, however, to distinguish between what I did do and what I did not do. What I did do was make a recommendation based on my judgment that Mandelson's experience, relationships and political skills could serve the national interest in Washington at an important moment. That judgment was a mistake. What I did not do was oversee national security vetting, ask officials to ignore procedures, request that steps should be skipped, or communicate explicitly or implicitly that checks should be cleared at all costs. I would never have considered that acceptable. These processes are in place to protect our national security.
And is Morgan McSweeney there, the cork man?
What is the significance of the parliamentary inquiry into the Mandelson vetting row?
George Parker is with us from the Financial Times. That's the first time I've heard Morgan McSweeney speak, George. Has he had anything interesting to say?
I think he's a component of the Spangali figure, hasn't he, at Westminster? And as you say, he's worked behind the scenes. And until last week when he was at a conference in Kiev, I don't think anyone really had heard him speak. And I think he's been sort of given quite a calm account of his extraordinary role at the heart of the number 10 operation. I mean, you heard there in that clip, what he's basically saying is that he did make the recommendation for Mandelson to get this job. He thought that Mandelson would be the right person to deal with Donald Trump. He said that if Kamala Harris had won the American presidential election, he didn't think that Mandelson would have gone to Washington. But given the fact that Trump was there, this extraordinary politician, they needed someone with extraordinary talents to go out and be up against him.
Now, you are writing today about this three pronged challenge that Keir Starmer is facing today.
What did Morgan McSweeney say about his recommendation for Mandelson?
That's one of the prongs, isn't it? What Morgan McSweeney had to say. The other one was Sir Philip Barton, who gave evidence this morning. He was the former head of the or is the former head of the Foreign Office. So what was he being asked about this morning?
Well, this is all about the appointment of Peter Mandelson and the circumstances around his appointment. And Philip Barton was the head of the Foreign Office at the time when the initial announcement was made. He basically said he was given about a week's notice of this appointment coming down the track. And he admitted, basically, that if Mandelson had failed the vetting process after he'd been announced as the preferred candidate to be the ambassador to Washington, there would have been a crisis on everyone's hands. The King had already been told that Mandelson was going. Donald Trump had already been told that Mandelson was was going. There were no contingency plans in place in the event that Mandelson failed the vetting process.
So it was interesting evidence, but I'd say that on that front at least, I don't think Keir Starmer's got anything particularly to worry about. It basically confirmed that although the Foreign Office felt under pressure to speed up a decision on Mandelson's vetting, They weren't under any pressure to ignore red flags being raised as part of the vetting process, which has always been Keir Starmer's contention.
But in about an hour's time, he's going to face the opposition parties who really want him to face a formal inquiry into this entire Mandelson affair.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:49
2
What pressure is Keir Starmer facing regarding his premiership?
0:49–1:31
3
What is the significance of the parliamentary inquiry into the Mandelson vetting row?
1:31–2:27
4
What did Morgan McSweeney say about his recommendation for Mandelson?
2:27–4:38
5
How did the Foreign Office respond to the Mandelson appointment process?
4:38–11:37
6
What challenges does Keir Starmer face from opposition parties?
11:37–11:41