Mandelson Failed Security Vetting: Who Knew What, When?
Newscast
BBC
4.3 • 6.6K Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, the Prime Minister has denied knowing that Lord Mandelson failed security vetting for the role of US ambassador until earlier this week.
Sir Keir Starmer has faced calls to resign over allegations he misled Parliament and MPs when he claimed "full due process" was followed during the appointment.
It came after the Guardian newspaper reported, external that Lord Mandelson was initially denied security clearance in late January 2025 but this was overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure the peer could take up the post.
You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord
Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.
New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Joe Wilkinson. The social producer was Gabriel Purcell-Davis. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:06.0 | Hello, I don't want to bore you with newscast process. |
| 0:10.7 | But hey, you love process. |
| 0:12.3 | You listen to newscast. |
| 0:13.9 | Normally on a Thursday night, we record our TV program, which is broadcast on BBC1 after |
| 0:19.8 | question time. |
| 0:24.0 | And then it comes to you as a podcast on Friday. |
| 0:31.6 | And it's a review of the week. But actually what was happening this Thursday night was that there was loads of stories breaking simultaneously. There was the big thing happening at Westminster about the revelations about Peter Mandelson's vetting and what that meant for |
| 0:38.3 | who knew what and what responsibility the Prime Minister bore for that. But simultaneously, |
| 0:43.2 | in Washington, Donald Trump was announcing that Israel and Lebanon had agreed a ceasefire, which |
| 0:49.0 | was a big stumbling block to the preservation of the ceasefire between the US and Iran. So there was a heck of a lot happening. So our Thursday night TV show, which is normally a more kind of like measured, stand back, look at the week's news. What have we learned that we didn't know at the time? Was more of a classic episode of newscast when there was just breaking news happening all over the place. So that's what you will hear now with me in the Newscast Studio and Chris at Westminster |
| 1:12.6 | and then us joined by assorted friends in Newscast. |
| 1:16.6 | Newscast from the BBC. |
| 1:19.0 | Humanity's next great voyage begins. |
| 1:21.4 | We are in the midst of a rupture. |
| 1:23.3 | Nostalgia will not bring back the old order. |
| 1:26.0 | Six-seven. |
| 1:48.2 | Yeah. It's supposed to be me as a doctor. Daddy has also a special connotation. Ooh-la-law. Thinking about it like a pantor helped. Do we play music now? What do we do? Hello, it's Adam in the newscast studio. And it is Chris at Westminster. And in the second half of this episode, we will talk about the many, many developments happening in the world. For example, the ceasefire that's just been announced as we're recording this episode between Israel and Lebanon, which has been announced by Donald Trump. But first |
| 1:53.3 | of all, that big breaking story that Chris has been working on in Westminster, Thursday afternoon |
| 1:57.4 | and Thursday evening. Chris, it's the return of the Lord Mandelson |
| 2:01.2 | ex-ambassad to Washington story and who knew what, when, about his appointment. Bring us up |
| 2:07.1 | today. Exactly that. So let me walk you through what happened this afternoon and then into this |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.