Starmer strikes back over Mandelson vetting scandal

Yesterday evening Sir Keir Starmer defended himself in Parliament, stating ‘the facts are incredible,’ but ‘nobody’ in Number 10 knew that Peter Mandelson failed security vetting. Addressing MPs, the prime minister rejected the suggestion that the government’s desire to appoint Mandelson overrode security concerns. Immediately after, we caught up with the Times’ political editor to ask, who exactly knew what when? And how does this all end? Mandelson denies any wrongdoing when it comes to his relationship with Epstein. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times.

You can listen to Starmer strikes back over Mandelson vetting scandal online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Starmer strikes back over Mandelson vetting scandal is an episode from Stories of our times by The Times.

This episode is 30:31 long.

This episode was published on Apr 21, 2026.

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