Starmer announced Monday that he had commissioned a review into any security concerns raised during Mandelson’s tenure. That in itself means the scandal could deepen.
MPs are also asking about just how high a level of top secret documents Mandelson was allowed to see under Britain’s “STRAP” protocol. Access to these highest-level documents is complicated and varies case by case, with each one having an assigned “compartment” of people who see it on a need-to-know basis. Therefore we may never find out what Mandelson saw.
7) What else is waiting to come out?
One row that dominated Monday shows anything can come out of left field and disrupt the prime minister’s plans.
This time it was a memo to Starmer in November 2024 from former Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, already released by the government weeks ago but not widely seized upon. It recommended Starmer should let civil servants obtain security clearances, due diligence and flag any other issues “before confirming your choice” of ambassador.
MPs bombarded Starmer with questions about the Case memo. He had a response ready — that Wormald had since reviewed the process and said it was normal to only vet external appointees after they were announced.
But officials who worked on the advice from Case to Starmer believed they were telling the PM that vetting should be completed before the new ambassador was appointed, according to a person familiar with the matter, granted anonymity to speak about a sensitive matter.
One huge potential curveball is still to be thrown — the planned release of thousands of emails, text messages and WhatsApps between Mandelson and government figures in the coming weeks. Not even Starmer can be sure how the story will evolve from there.
Additional reporting by Tim Ross.