Starmer-Mandelson latest: Labour MPs turn on PM over vetting scandal – but Reeves rules out leadership contest

Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) says it has still not received all the files relating to the appointment and vetting of Lord Peter Mandelson.

The committee is set to review all documents the government believe could pose a security risk and make any redactions they deem necessary.

Lord Beamish, chair of the ISC, said they had been told they would receive all documents by April 10, but this had not happened.

Sky News reports Lord Beamish said: “We still have not received all remaining material. All of those documents which the government did provide to the committee within the agreed timetable were considered by the committee as a matter of priority.”

He continued: “None of those documents relate to the vetting process,” and said the ISC was only given the first two documents relating to vetting at 8.30am on Monday.

“The committee understands that further documents relating to vetting are still to be provided to it,” Lord Beamish said, adding it was “disappointing” they haven’t received them yet.

Dave Penman, head of the civil service union the FDA, said Sir Olly Robbins feels he has been “sacked for doing the job he was asked”.

“The prime minister asked him to clear and get the vetting sorted for Lord Mandelson,” he said on Newsnight. “He did that, and now he has paid a price for doing that and he thinks that’s unfair.”

He added he believes the sacking is “extraordinary” and “sends a real chill through the civil service”.

“I think the prime minister is losing the ability to work with the civil service,” he added.

Labour peer Baroness Margaret Hodge has said it has been a “grim” few days for the country, but insisted the prime minister will stay on.

“He will carry on being prime minister,” she said on Newsnight. “He still has authority. He shows it in all sorts of ways. He shows it on the international stage in a brilliant way. He shows it in his determination to tackle the cost of living.

“He is going to have to tackle the issues that have arisen this time.”

She said there is “a lot of work” to be done to repair trust between politicians and civil servants following the sacking of Sir Olly Robbins.

Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has this report:

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said both he and then-foreign secretary David Lammy had worries about Lord Mandelson being given the job as ambassador to the US because of the risk it could “blow up”.

He told Sky News: “You’re saying he should never have been appointed and I agree with you.”

But Mr Miliband insisted the prime minister should not lose his job over the scandal.

He said: “I think prime ministers make errors. Prime ministers are fallible. Prime ministers are human.”

Westminster watchers have had their popcorn out over the last 24 hours.

This week on In The Room, former Deputy Cabinet Secretary, Helen MacNamara, and ex-No.10 Special Advisor, Cleo Watson, give their reaction. They discuss how Olly Robbins delivered many hammer blows to Starmer in today’s testimony and why fresh questions over the appointment of Matthew Doyle could be the Prime Minister’s ultimate undoing.

Until Keir Starmer’s defence for his handling of the Mandelson vetting scandal – which amounts to ‘nobody told me’ – can be disproven, it must be accepted. But this feels like an administration not in control of events, and he must get a grip.

The Labour First Minister of Wales has described the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to the US as a “mistake”.

Speaking on Channel 4 News, Baroness Eluned Morgan said Sir Keir Starmer had “called the shots correctly” on the “big picture issues”.

Lady Morgan came to the prime minister’s defence in February after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on the Sir Keir to quit, describing him then as an “honourable man”.

On Tuesday, Lady Morgan told Channel 4: “He made a mistake in appointing Mandelson, I would never have appointed him.

“Mandelson’s brand of Labour politics is alien to Welsh Labour politics.”

Asked whether she still thought Sir Keir was the best leader for Labour, Lady Morgan said: “I think in an age of instability, I think when you’ve got global peril, when it’s costing people in terms of petrol prices and their oil prices, what you need is somebody who calls the shots correctly on the big picture issues.

“That’s what he’s done when it comes to the situation in the Gulf.”