McSweeney denies ‘bullying’ civil servants over Mandelson appointment

Morgan McSweeney has denied claims that he bullied civil servants over the appointment of Lord Mandelson.

Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff said on Thursday that the appointment was “wrong” but that he did not “recognise” himself in reports about the saga.

Mr McSweeney, who is a long-time friend of Lord Mandelson and resigned over the scandal in February, is expected to give evidence to the foreign affairs committee on the matter next week. 

Since he quit, he was accused of “bullying” and “cajoling” civil servants into appointing the peer as ambassador to the US, including by allegedly telling officials: “Just f---ing approve him.” 

He denied the reports on Thursday ahead of next week’s appearance before MPs.

Speaking at the Kyiv Security Forum conference in Ukraine, Mr McSweeney said: “I find it strange reading about a character with the same name as mine sometimes. I don’t recognise that character.

“My role was to advise the Prime Minister. I take responsibility in the advice that I gave and resigned.”

He added that the appointment was “wrong”. 

Mr McSweeney quit in February after recommending that Sir Keir appoint Lord Mandelson, despite warnings that he posed a “general reputational risk” to the Government because of his association with Jeffrey Epstein.

It came as it emerged that Sir Keir’s order to appoint the peer as ambassador is missing from government records.

The Prime Minister approved the job in late 2024, despite warnings from officials that the peer posed a “general reputational risk” to the Government because of his relationship with Epstein.

Ministers have been told to release all files about the appointment amid a rising scandal that threatens to upend Sir Keir’s premiership.

Cat Little, the official overseeing the Mandelson files release, told MPs on Thursday that Sir Keir’s official note ordering staff to push ahead with the peer’s appointment had disappeared. 

The decision, which would have been documented in a note on Dec 18 2024, was taken despite officials compiling an extensive “due diligence” dossier on the disgraced peer with warnings about his business dealings and friendship with Epstein.

The appointment was also made before Lord Mandelson underwent the official vetting process, against the advice of Lord Case, the former Cabinet secretary.

Ms Little, the Cabinet Office permanent secretary, was asked by Sir John Whittingdale, a Tory MP, why the note had not appeared in the first tranche of the Mandelson files, which were published on March 11.

She replied: “There are a number of examples where we have had to undertake further investigation, based on the information that we have. Wherever you would expect to see more information, we have undertaken follow-up inquiries.” 

Challenged on whether she would look further for Sir Keir’s note signing off Lord Mandelson’s appointment, she replied: “We have undertaken further investigation.”

Sir Keir is under pressure over accusations that he misled the House of Commons over Lord Mandelson.

Questions are set to continue next week, when Sir Philip Barton, who was the predecessor in the Foreign Office of Sir Olly Robbins, the top civil servant whom Sir Keir sacked over the fiasco, will give evidence to the foreign affairs committee.

The Telegraph understands Sir Keir could face a crunch vote to refer him to Parliament’s ethics committee, over claims that he lied when he told MPs “full due process” was followed over the security vetting. 

The Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Karl Turner, the suspended Labour MP, have called on Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to hold a vote to refer Sir Keir to the privileges committee, the ethics body that ruled against Boris Johnson.

Sir Keir’s critics claim he has misled MPs twice over Lord Mandelson’s vetting and his claim that “no pressure existed” to give him security clearance.

The Conservatives could submit a motion calling for a privileges committee investigation to Sir Lindsay, which he would have the power to put to all MPs.

Sir Lindsay would then take legal advice from the clerks of the Commons, before making a determination on whether to hold a vote. 

Although Sir Keir has a majority in the Commons and could ask his MPs to vote against it, the motion would force Labour backbenchers to oppose an investigation into Lord Mandelson, which would further embarrass the party.

The Conservatives declined to comment on whether they would submit a motion, although it is understood the party is considering submitting one after Kemi Badenoch, the party leader, publicly accused Sir Keir of misleading MPs.

In 2022, Mr Johnson faced a privileges committee investigation over his claims that all Covid rules were followed in Downing Street during the pandemic.

The committee found that he had knowingly misled the House, which is a breach of the ministerial code, although Mr Johnson had already resigned by the time MPs presented their findings. 

The fresh pressure on Sir Keir follows a week of damaging revelations about Lord Mandelson’s security clearance, which was granted by the Foreign Office despite warnings from the UK Security Vetting agency (UKSV).

MPs Graham Stringer and Jonathan Brash have called on Sir Keir to resign, while Rachel Reeves, Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and David Lammy raised concerns about the situation in a Cabinet meeting earlier this week.

Speaking on a visit to the North East on Thursday, Sir Keir refused to say that his Cabinet was united behind him.

Sir Olly resigned on Thursday over his decision to approve Lord Mandelson’s clearance without telling Downing Street about the outcome of UKSV’s vetting process. 

He gave evidence to MPs on Tuesday, claiming there was an “atmosphere of pressure” on his department to approve Lord Mandelson’s appointment, which No 10 had already announced.

The Prime Minister then said on Wednesday that “no pressure existed” on Sir Olly, which Mrs Badenoch said amounted to misleading MPs.

On Thursday, it was also revealed that Sir Olly arranged for Lord Mandelson to have an audience with the King before his security checks were returned.

The former Foreign Office chief said he would ask the King’s private secretary to “get the wheels in motion” for an audience with the monarch before he started as ambassador. 

The request for an audience with the King, who formally appoints the ambassador on the advice of the Prime Minister, came before the conclusion of a vetting process that the peer ultimately failed.

In an email on Jan 27 2025, Sir Olly wrote that Dame Karen Pierce, the outgoing ambassador to the US at the time, had spoken to Mike Waltz, then US national security adviser, and that there was “no suggestion that Peter’s nomination was an issue” with Donald Trump’s administration.

In light of this, he wrote, he would ask Clive Alderton, the King’s private secretary, to “get the wheels in motion for Peter’s audience”.

He added: “Shout by 10am if anyone thinks I shld [sic] hold off (I suspect it will still take a little while to confirm this in The King’s diary).”

The email, entitled Audience with the King, was sent to his fellow Foreign Office chiefs and Dame Karen, and copied in Lord Mandelson and Ailsa Terry, Sir Keir’s private secretary for foreign affairs.

Separately, it emerged on Thursday that Sir Keir gushed about “working side by side” with Lord Mandelson the night before his appointment as ambassador.

The message, which emerged before the publication of a second tranche of documents relating to the appointment, shows Sir Keir called Lord Mandelson “brilliant” and expressed his excitement about working together.