Starmer rejects calls to quit as pressure mounts over Mandelson vetting

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Starmer rejects calls to quit as pressure mounts over Mandelson vetting

Published

2 months ago

April 18, 2026

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Top Foreign Office official takes fall for fiasco and resigns; Starmer promises to deliver ‘relevant facts’ on Monday.

Keir Starmer says he is “absolutely furious” that he was not informed that Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting before being appointed UK envoy to Washington, as the United Kingdom prime minister faced renewed calls to resign over the affair.

Starmer on Friday maintained that he was kept in the dark about the Foreign Office’s decision to overrule the recommendation of security officials not to give the job to the Labour Party grandee, who was fired in September over his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer, who has asserted he knew nothing about the vetting outcome, said that the Foreign Office’s failure to inform him, as prime minister, was “staggering” and “unforgivable”, pledging to “set out all the relevant facts in true transparency” to Parliament on Monday.

The beleaguered prime minister said he only found out about the botched process on Tuesday, just before the revelations were published by The Guardian on Thursday, with top Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins ousted on the same day.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, said Friday that “the recommendation was to not appoint Peter Mandelson to the role,” and that the Foreign Office ignored it. He said that was “astonishing”, but within the rules.

He said no government minister had been told of the security assessment, carried out by a department known as UK Security Vetting. People familiar with the process told The Associated Press that is standard practice because of the sensitive personal information involved, including “financial, personal, sexual, religious and other types of background information”.

Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said claims the prime minister didn’t know were “completely preposterous”. “This story does not stack up. The prime minister is taking us for fools,” she told the BBC. “All roads lead to a resignation.”

Starmer has repeatedly insisted that “due process” was followed in the appointment, which was announced in December 2024, with Mandelson taking up the post in February, 2025.

He was sacked just seven months later, after documents released by a US Congressional committee revealed new details about the depth of his ties to Epstein.

Police have opened a probe into allegations of misconduct in office by Mandelson, who was arrested and bailed in February. Investigators are looking at allegations he leaked sensitive documents to Epstein when he was a government minister, including during the 2008 financial crash.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/17/starmer-rejects-calls-to-quit-as-pressure-mounts-over-mandelson-vetting?traffic_source=rss

Related Topics:சர்வதேச செய்திகள்தமிழ் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு

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Israel continues strikes on Lebanon despite halting attacks on Iran

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8 hours ago

June 9, 2026

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Israel continues strikes on Lebanon despite halting attacks on Iran

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged a halt in fighting with Iran, but vowed to respond “with force” to future attacks. Israel says it will continue operations in Lebanon, claiming to focus on Hezbollah targets.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/6/9/aje-onl-nf_israel-continues-strikes-on-lebanon-halts-on-iran-080626?traffic_source=rss

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ICC prosecutor suspended pending vote on sexual misconduct claims

Published

8 hours ago

June 9, 2026

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Karim Khan rejects suspension as ICC governing body refers him to disciplinary proceedings before member states.

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, has been suspended from his duties, the tribunal’s governing body said, following a probe into sexual misconduct allegations.

In a statement on Monday, the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties said it will refer Khan to disciplinary proceedings before all 125 ICC member states, which will vote on his fate in a special session.

“This suspension is not an indication of the final outcome,” it said.

The bureau, which is the executive committee of the court’s oversight body, said it referred Khan after making its own decision on the disciplinary proceedings involving the prosecutor.

It said the decision was based on a report of a United Nations investigation, the advice of an ad hoc panel of judicial experts, and written submissions, but did not give details about what it had decided.

“The decision of the ⁠Bureau and the related documentation will remain confidential,” the statement said.

Khan’s lawyers ⁠said in a statement that he rejected the decision in the strongest terms, and repeated his denial of any wrongdoing.

“The decision is unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence,” the statement said.

Khan, 56, drew international attention when he applied for warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.

He also sought warrants for Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, for the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

Khan was among the first to be sanctioned by Israel’s ally, the United States, which expressed outrage over the arrest warrants.

He has maintained that the misconduct probe is a politically motivated smear campaign.

According to Reuters and the Associated Press news agencies, the UN probe found a “factual basis” for the allegations of sexual misconduct made by a female aide. However, a three-judge panel selected by the executive committee for a legal assessment of the findings found that the investigation was not conclusive enough.

Khan’s lawyers had previously told Reuters that the judges had unanimously concluded that the “factual findings do not establish misconduct or breach of duty”.

Khan has not led the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor since ⁠last May, when he took a voluntary leave of absence pending the outcome of the inquiry.

He is the first ICC prosecutor to be formally suspended from his role by the court’s oversight body.

Only the Assembly of States Parties has the authority to remove Khan from office, a move that would require a majority in a secret ballot of its 125 member states.

Sixty-three countries would need to support a measure to remove him.

No date was immediately set for the session.

Khan’s suspension will have little practical impact on the functioning of the court, given his existing leave of absence.

He has already been removed from pleading in the ICC’s most high-profile current case, against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/9/icc-prosecutor-suspended-pending-vote-on-sexual-misconduct-claims?traffic_source=rss

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UN questions legality of Israeli forced evacuation orders in Lebanon

Published

8 hours ago

June 9, 2026

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UN questions legality of Israeli forced evacuation orders in Lebanon

A UN spokesman says forced evacuation orders issued across southern and eastern Lebanon are nearly impossible to follow safely, and calls into question whether Israel is complying with international humanitarian law.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/6/9/un-questions-legality-of-israeli-forced-evacuation-orders-in-lebanon?traffic_source=rss