Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the letter of 16 September from the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, why the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was not asked to contribute to the due diligence process on the appointment of Lord Mandelson as Ambassador to the United States; and whether any other bodies were involved in that due diligence process.

Due diligence was undertaken prior to the appointment of the former Ambassador to the United States, and was part of an established process to collate relevant information as part of the identification and selection of the appointee.

Following the announcement of the appointment, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office started the ambassadorial appointment process, including national security vetting, in the usual way.