Starmer Aide Admits Mandelson Pick Was a Mistake
Keir Starmer's former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, admitted on Tuesday that he had made a mistake in recommending Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to the United States, while denying that he had bypassed standard selection procedures.
McSweeney told parliament he had believed the experienced Labour politician could help Britain secure a trade deal with the US following Donald Trump's return to the White House.
"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", he told the committee.
McSweeney also rejected allegations that he had interfered with security clearances or violated established procedures. "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", he said.