Overview

• Kemi Badenoch pressed Keir Starmer on the ambassador’s suitability and asked whether Mandelson’s vetting records would be released.
• Starmer said "full due process was followed" in the appointment and reiterated his confidence in Mandelson, declining to promise publication of vetting documents.
• Scrutiny intensified after U.S. lawmakers released a 2003 note in which Mandelson called Jeffrey Epstein his "best pal"; Mandelson called it embarrassing and acknowledged he kept links after Epstein’s indictment.
• Starmer opened by condemning a Russian strike on Ukraine and what he called an unprecedented Russian drone breach of Polish and NATO airspace, and he is set to meet Israeli president Isaac Herzog later.
• The session came after a reshuffle prompted by Angela Rayner’s resignation, elevating David Lammy, Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood, as pressure grows over Channel small-boat crossings reported by UK media.