The revelations around the security vetting process for Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as British ambassador to the US raise serious questions about the Prime Minister’s judgment, Stormont’s First Minister has said.
Michelle O’Neill said it was a matter for the British people to determine whether Sir Keir Starmer had taken enough accountability for a controversy that has heaped further pressure on the embattled Labour leader.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said the furore was bringing down the “integrity of politics”.
The leaders of the powersharing executive in Belfast were asked about the developments as former Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins told a Westminster committee there was a “dismissive approach” to Lord Mandelson’s security vetting from No 10 with an “atmosphere of pressure” to get the appointment through.
Sir Olly was sacked by the Prime Minister last week for not disclosing Lord Mandelson failed security checks but was granted developed vetting (DV) clearance anyway by the Foreign Office.
Attending an event in Belfast focused on ending violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland, Ms O’Neill was asked if she believed Sir Keir had taken sufficient accountability over the disclosures around the peer’s appointment as ambassador.
“Look, I think that’s a matter for the British people, I think it’s a matter for Westminster, I think it’s a matter for the Labour Party,” she said.
“But we’re here today launching a strategy about ending violence against women and girls and the next stage of a plan for a huge problem that we have in our society.
“And what goes right to the heart of his decision, to appoint Peter Mandelson, that this is someone who is a known associate of Jeffrey Epstein. This is someone who was known to be associated with someone who is right at the heart of what we’re talking about when it comes to violence against women and girls – a known offender.
“So serious, serious judgment questions come to play there, and I think that people need to make up their mind in Britain in relation to that.”
DUP MLA Ms Little-Pengelly said “serious questions” needed to be answered by the Prime Minister.
“And I think we’ve seen more of that this morning, with the previous permanent secretary appearing before the committee that raises even more questions,” she said.
“My party leader (DUP leader Gavin Robinson) and colleagues were in Westminster yesterday in the House of Commons asking questions of the Prime Minister, because, quite frankly, he does need to explain exactly what happened. Why did he make the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson? Why did he make that decision before the vetting had been carried out? Who asked questions about that vetting? What pressures were put on the system in relation to making sure that that appointment could go ahead in the way that the Prime Minister and the Government wanted that to happen?
“So, look, all of this brings down the integrity of politics, and we want people to have faith in politics. We want things to be done correctly.”
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