Keir Starmer issued a defiant message to the opposition benches as he claimed Kemi Badenoch had been wrong on several aspects of the Peter Mandelson vetting controversy.
At this afternoon’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Badenoch repeatedly asked Starmer about the scandal surrounding Lord Mandelson’s failed vetting.
This was the day after sacked Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee to give answers about the process and how it was that Mandelson cleared security vetting for the role of US ambassador despite security vetting officials advising against this.
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Towards the end of Badenoch’s questions, Badenoch accused Starmer of not following due process, something the prime minister said he had done during PMQs last year.
The Tory leader argued this amounted to misleading the House and asked if Starmer would resign as a result.
After once again highlighting how he was not made aware of the recommendation from vetting officials, Starmer then turned his attention to Badenoch.
He claimed she had been wrong about a number of aspects of the story since it broke, saying: “The leader of the opposition claimed on Friday that Mandelson had could not have been cleared against security advice – she was wrong about that.
“She said that ministers must have been told – she was wrong about that. She claimed there was deliberate dishonesty – she was wrong about that. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Starmer accused the Tory leader of ‘rushing to judgement’ on the story “just like the Iran war.”
He then defiantly added: “I was elected by the British people because they [the Tories] let the country down for 14 long years. Whatever she says, whatever noise they make, nothing is going to distract me from delivering for our country!”