Five questions await Starmer when he faces the Commons over Mandelson controversy3 hours agoJennifer McKiernanPolitical reporterReutersPrime minister Sir Keir Starmer will face Here are the questions he must answer. What did Starmer and his team know and when did they know it? Sir Keir said that he was first made aware of the red flags on Tuesday last week. The UKSV had raised the issue with the Why didn’t Starmer and his team ask for more information about the matter? Sir Keir replaced the previous US ambassador Karen Pierce (a civil servant) with Lord Mandelson in January of last year, when Donald Trump Lord Mandelson’s friendship and previous scandals involving money and influence, which led to his being forced out of Cabinet two times, were well known before he was appointed. Starmer misled Parliament?Sir Keir said to MPs, in September, just a day before Mandelson was fired as US ambassador, “full due procedure” had been followed. The Conservatives The prime minister denies that he was told about the vetting recommendations only last Tuesday. Under the code, a minister should correct the record at Parliament “at the first opportunity”. Opposition leaders say Sir Keir was supposed to have corrected the record at PMQs the following week, the day after his claim that he learned about the red flags. 4. Sir Chris Wormald said in November that Lord Mandelson had not been formally interviewed to become the US ambassador. Sir Chris Wormald said that Lord Mandelson wasn’t directly asked about any conflicts of interest in person, but was instead required to fill out a form aimed at potential financial conflict. Details of the due diligence check carried out before Lord Mandelson was appointed by the Cabinet Office for Number 10 are yet to be revealed. This scandal has dragged on for months and cost Sir Keir his US ambassador, his chief of staff, and the head of the Foreign Office, Sir Olly Robbins. Starmer can’t seem to move on from Mandelson. Starmer still can’t move on from the Mandelson mess.
