Bureaucratic Theatre

Last weekend, I almost wrote about how Keir Starmer was looking safe despite the coming catastrophe of losing Wales and getting wiped out in the English local government. That was before the toxicity surrounding Peter Mandelson's appointment resurfaced. Presenting like the Spanish Inquisition, from nowhere we learned that Starmer wasn't told that the former US ambassador had failed his security vetting in January 2025 and that the Foreign Office cleared Mandelson anyway. Olly Robbins, the civil servant in charge, was promptly sacked when Starmer found out. There has since followed a who-knew-what-when game involving confected and performative frothing over procedural matters, and an effort to absolve the Prime Minister of all responsibility.

In the Commons on Monday, Starmer apologised for appointing Mandelson. But then spent the next half hour recounting the timeline. He was adamant that he wasn't told about the outcome of the security check which, rather stupidly, was undertaken only after the announcement of the appointment. This has now been changed. The problem being, and for which Starmer has not provided an answer, is that The Indy ran a lead story on the checking's failure last September and had contacted Downing Street about it. Starmer side-stepped the this question from Kemi Badenoch, hiding behind the "all process was followed" excuse. Even if this was true, didn't this query involve further discussion in Number 10 at the time? It's difficult to believe this did not reach the ears of certain senior people.

Whatever the ins and outs of process, no one is likely to believe Starmer apart from those who want to. Easily Boris Johnson's equal when it comes to matters of the truth, Starmer's leadership is so fully compromised by an economy with the actualite that everything he says should come with a warning and a lengthy fact check. His strategy to come out fighting is all about burying the problem in boring procedure to avoid blame. Reams and reams of articles going over the prescribed way of doing things and making it look like a dysfunction of arcane Whitehall machinery. This, however, is nothing but a shield. Starmer knew who Mandelson was, his history and record, his disgraces, and his close friendships with billionaires, above all convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Starmer wasn't to know about Mandelson's treachery, but there was plenty of other things that suggested giving him the top ambassador's job was stupid. And he was appointed anyway, following Mandelson apparently lobbying Morgan McSweeney for the post and as reward for services rendered. Despite Starmer's insincere apology, he's never proffered an explanation for employing him in the first place. Because he hasn't got an acceptable answer, hence why we're getting treated to the unique tedium of Starmer's bureaucratic theatre.

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