'They expect us to believe this?' – Starmer’s Mandelson story doesn’t add up
4/20/202620 min
Westminster is braced ahead of two key interventions in the Mandelson scandal. This afternoon, the prime minister will give a statement in which we understand he will convey his ‘anger’ at being kept in the dark about Peter Mandelson’s (failed) vetting process. Then tomorrow morning, we are expecting to hear Olly Robbins’s side of the story when he appears in front of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Whose testimony will be the most compelling? Will it be the case – as we expect – that Mandelson’s was a political appointment which the Foreign Office was under orders to push through, despite what skeletons might be in his closet?
Tim Shipman speaks to James Heale.
Produced by Megan McElroy and Oscar Edmondson.
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James Heale· Host0:23
[upbeat music] Hello, welcome to Coffee House. I'm James Heil.
Tim Shipman· Host0:34
And I'm Tim Shipman.
James Heale· Host0:35
And today we're going to be talking about the only story that matters in Westminster. That is Peter Mandelson's vetting status, why Oliver Robbins was sacked as head of the Foreign Office, and can the Prime Minister get to the next forty-eight hours with his party still behind him?
Tim Shipman· Host0:48
We're going to ask three key questions. What does this mean for the Prime Minister's relationship with his party? What does it mean for the Prime Minister's relationship with the country? And what does it mean for the relationship between this government and the civil service?
James Heale· Host1:00
So Tim, the government is arguing that, uh, Oliver Robbins had a duty to inform them about Mandelson failing vetting. Robbins' allies, we expect to hear more of that tomorrow when he's up before the Foreign Affairs Committee, are countering that actually he did follow all rules at all times, and he's been made a fall guy. What's the truth in all of this?
Tim Shipman· Host1:14
Well, I think the big picture truth is still the same as it was at the end of last week, which is that the Prime Minister and his Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney, wanted to appoint Peter Mandelson as the Ambassador to the United States. They had already batted away a heck of a lot of doubts from ministers,