Officials debate withholding Mandelson vetting documents from parliament

Exclusive: Opinions split on ‘unprecedented’ release of files, despite demand for ‘all papers’ related to ex-US ambassador’s appointmentRevealed: Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decisionFive key questions: who overruled decision to deny Mandelson security clearance?Senior government officials have been considering whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents that show Peter Mandelson failed security vetting before he assumed the role of US ambassador, the Guardian can reveal.Any such decision could amount to an extraordinary breach of a parliamentary vote, known as a humble address, that ordered the release of “all papers” relevant to Mandelson’s appointment.The Guardian has revealed that Mandelson did not receive vetting clearance from security officials, but that their decision was overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post.According to multiple sources, officials across government have been in dispute over whether to release documents that would reveal those facts, and other information about Mandelson’s security vetting, to the parliamentary intelligence and security committee (ISC).The committee has been entrusted by parliament with the role of assessing the most sensitive papers relating to Mandelson’s appointment

Revealed: Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision

Guardian investigation uncovers decision by UK security officials to deny clearance before Mandelson took up role as US ambassadorTop civil servant Olly Robbins forced out over vetting rowOfficials debate withholding Mandelson vetting documents from parliamentFive key questions: Who overruled the decision to deny Mandelson security clearance?Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting clearance but the decision was overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post as ambassador to the US, an investigation by the Guardian can reveal.According to multiple sources, Mandelson was initially denied clearance in late January 2025 after a developed vetting process, a highly confidential background check by security officials.Keir Starmer had by then announced he would be making Mandelson the UK’s chief diplomat in Washington, posing a dilemma for officials at the Foreign Office, who decided to use a rarely used authority to override the recommendation from security officials.Mandelson’s failure to secure vetting approval has not previously been publicly revealed, despite intense scrutiny over his appointment and the release by the government of 147 pages of documents supposed to shed light on the case.Downing Street released a statement late on Thursday confirming the Guardian’s story

As an older man, I feel for Peter Mandelson being caught short | Letter

You report that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea intends to fine Peter Mandelson for urinating in the street at 11pm one night last November (Peter Mandelson faces fixed-penalty notice for urinating in public, 10 April). I’m no fan of Mr Mandelson, but on this occasion my sympathies are entirely with him.I am a year younger than him and, like many men of similar age, what used to be quaintly called my “waterworks” aren’t as robust as they used to be.What was he supposed to do when caught short on a cold night? Wet himself and allow the stream to flow from his trouser leg? Or follow the example of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who refused to leave a banquet to relieve himself because it would be a breach of etiquette and, according to Johannes Kepler, died shortly after as a result?If the council proceeds with this fine, I assume that it will also fine dog owners who allow their pets to pee in the street. This would be ridiculous, but no more so than what it intends doing with Mr Mandelson

A decade on from Brexit, Britain still flounders without a place in the world | Letters

Perhaps the saddest consequence of Brexit is that it has left the UK a profoundly unhappy country (Ten years after Brexit, this is the UK: a divided nation frozen in time, 9 April). For Brexit supporters, the dream of a proud, independent Britain able to direct its own destiny in the world is nowhere near fulfilled, as if it ever could be. And they continue to grasp at the nearest proximate cause – an “invasion” of immigrants undermining British identity and draining its resources. For those who wished to remain, Brexit has left them unmoored from the security of membership of a grouping that gave them an identity and clear position in the world.Unfortunately, that unhappiness is now exacerbated by the state of the world outside the UK

SNP pledges to cap bread and milk prices if it wins Scotland’s parliamentary elections

The SNP will cap supermarket prices for essential goods such as bread and milk if it retains power, John Swinney has pledged, after describing the cost of living as “the defining issue of this election”.With polls pointing to a fifth Holyrood term for the Scottish National party, its leader said he would use devolved public health powers to fix prices on 20 to 50 items such as bread, milk, cheese, eggs, rice and chicken because their rising cost was “impacting our nation’s nutrition”.The eye-catching pledge, made at the launch of the SNP manifesto for the Scottish parliament election, was immediately dismissed as a “potty gimmick” by retailers. It could also put the party on a collision course with the UK government because it may breach the Scotland Act of 1998 that created a devolved parliament.Ewan MacDonald-Russell, deputy head of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said supermarkets already paid significantly higher rates in Scotland, £162m more over the next three years than in England

Blue Labour gets bluer with MP’s noble quest for a summer of sex | John Crace

We could almost be back in the San Francisco of the 1960s. Tune in, turn on, drop out. Make love not war. A hippy counterculture that turned its back on the American involvement in Vietnam. One determined to shape a new world order

CEO of bitcoin firm championed by Nigel Farage leaves company

The chief executive of a bitcoin company promoted by Nigel Farage has left his role as the venture attempts to convince investors that it is going to deliver “long-term value” for shareholders.Stack BTC was launched to much fanfare in March this year, with Farage and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng becoming some of its first shareholders. The company says its founder is Paul Withers, a friend of the Reform UK leader who owns a gold bullion company that Farage has also promoted, Direct Bullion.However, Stack BTC is a renamed company which was founded in 2021 by Jai Patel, whose departure as chief executive was announced on Wednesday. The company, formerly called Kasei Investment Holdings, invested in cryptocurrency and a range of other digital assets

David Lammy still plays an important role in UK foreign policy – but he is not the only one

The first foreign official JD Vance met with after he returned from peace talks with Iran in Islamabad this week was not a diplomat or foreign policy official – it was David Lammy, the UK’s justice secretary and deputy prime minister.Lammy will follow his trip to Washington, where he saw the vice-president and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, with another to Barcelona, where he will represent the UK at a conference of global progressives, and then one to the Gulf.The whistle-stop diplomacy from the former foreign secretary has prompted questions in Whitehall over who is really driving the government’s foreign policy at a time when it is more important than ever.“Obviously the prime minister is in charge of the government’s foreign policy, especially when it is so important domestically as well,” said one government official.“Beneath him though there are quite a lot of people all of whom are doing slightly different jobs and who think of themselves as the real foreign secretary

Boosting military spending by slashing welfare is not the answer, senior Labour figures warn Reeves

Senior Labour figures have warned that Rachel Reeves must find alternative ways to increase military spending rather than slashing welfare, saying it risks diminishing public support for investment in defence.Pressure has been mounting from Labour backbenchers for the Treasury to urgently agree the defence investment plan (Dip) after George Robertson, a former Nato secretary general, said there was a “corrosive complacency” on defence funding.But MPs and peers said they did not back calls by the opposition for defence investment to be funded by cuts to welfare spending – saying there were other ways to secure the funds. The chancellor is understood to have proposed increasing the budget by less than £10bn over the next four years amid concerns that any more would be unaffordable.On Wednesday, Keir Starmer said he did not agree with the comments from Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who co-authored a defence review for the government