Starmer expected to lead Labour into next election, says minister, but warns there are ‘no certainties’ amid Mandelson scandal – UK politics live

Douglas Alexander defends PM ahead of Commons showdown over Mandelson scandal Judgment day for PM over Mandelson scandal Tom Fletcher , the UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and a former Downing Street foreign policy adviser, was on the Today programme this morning talking about the humanitarian impact of the Iran war. Asked about Olly Robbins being sacked as head of the Foreign Office for not telling Keir Starmer about the recommendation for Peter Mandelson to be refused security vetting, Fletcher defended his former civil service colleague and said they had been in touch in recent days. He said: This is a guy who has public service and integrity stitched into his DNA in a way I haven’t seen in any other single individual.

And I’ve worked with so many people inside government. So he has had an utterly rough few days. He’s a pretty strong character. But I think he’s heartbroken. It’s completely preposterous for us to believe that when the prime minister said on the floor of the house [of Commons] the full due process was followed that officials who knew that was not the case would not have told him. He knew. It is preposterous for us to believe that on 5 February, [after] him giving press conference saying that Mandelson was cleared by the security services, nobody told him that actually that this was not the case. Continue reading...