Starmer faces calls to quit as No.10 confirms security failures over Mandelson

Keir Starmer is facing a growing clamour to quit today after Downing Street confirmed Lord Peter Mandelson failed security vetting before being made US ambassador. The New Labour architect is said to have been initially denied developed vetting clearance in January 2025 - weeks after the PM had officially announced his appointment.However, according to the Guardian the Foreign Office deployed a rarely-used power to override the recommendation from security officials.The fact that Mandelson did not get signed off has not previously been revealed, despite the Government being forced by MPs to release of a batch of documents about the process. Sir Keir previously insisted Mandelson was subject to 'security vetting, carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave him clearance for the role'.