Security Vetting

Tahir Ali Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I will.

[Tahir Ali (Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley) (Lab)]

I believe that there are two sides to this. One is about process, and the other is about judgment. On process, I believe that the Prime Minister was not told about the security vetting clearance, and that, had he known, he would have sacked Peter Mandelson. We do not have a problem with that. The problem is this: why was he not told that, and who is actually running the country? Are other Ministers being kept in the dark by civil servants? On the issue of judgment, it was completely wrong to put Mandelson forward as an ambassador in the first place. Will the Prime Minister write to me this week confirming that in all the political appointments that have been made, no one is in position who has failed the advanced security vetting process?

[The Prime Minister]

That is included in the review that I have set up, and as soon as I have the findings I will share them with the House.