‘He blatantly lied’
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing calls to resign, following the latest revelation about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
According to The Guardian, security officials initially denied Lord Mandelson clearance, but Starmer had already announced his appointment, and the Foreign Office took the rare step of overruling the recommendation.
Previously, the PM insisted due process was followed and that the vetting “gave him clearance for the role”.
After it emerged that Lord Mandelson was made US ambassador despite failing his security vetting, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said that Starmer should resign.
“Keir Starmer said in February that the security services had given Mandelson ‘clearance for the role’. Now we discover that he has blatantly lied, the Prime Minister should resign”, Farage said.
Meanwhile, leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch said that Sir Keir should resign if he withheld documents by a cover-up from Parliament.
“If he has misled Parliament, as it looks like he has, he should resign. If he has broken the ministerial code, as it looks like he has, he should resign”, Badenoch said.
“I’m only holding him to the same standards to which he’s held previous Prime Ministers – that if they mislead parliament, they should resign. This is the standard which he sets himself.”
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, also said that the PM must resign if he “misled Parliament and lied to the British public”.
Green Party MP Sian Berry also suggested that the Prime Minister must resign, adding that “Keir Starmer has lied and lied again over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson”.
The PM said that he understood the “anger and frustration” of Labour MPs at his decision to appoint him as UK ambassador to Washington two years ago.
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