Sir Philip Barton says he learned of Mandelson's proposed appointment on Dec 15 and sets out vetting timeline

Sir Philip Barton told MPs on Tuesday that he first learned on December 15, 2024 that Peter Mandelson was to become Britain’s ambassador to Washington. (committees.parliament.uk) (civilserviceworld.com) Barton said he was not consulted before that decision and was instead “presented with a decision” and told to proceed with the appointment. (committees.parliament.uk) (lbc.co.uk) He told the Foreign Affairs Committee that the Cabinet Office initially said Mandelson did not need developed vetting because, as a peer, he counted as a “fit and proper person.” Barton said he thought that was “odd and insufficient” for the Washington post. (committees.parliament.uk) (lbc.co.uk) Barton said Foreign Office security officials then sought further advice and came back saying Mandelson should undergo developed vetting after all. Barton told MPs he agreed, because the ambassador in Washington needs access to some of the British state’s most sensitive secrets. (committees.parliament.uk) (lbc.co.uk) The dates matter because Keir Starmer told Parliament that Mandelson answered due-diligence questions on December 10, 2024, that final advice arrived on December 11, and that Starmer decided on December 18 before announcing the appointment on December 20. (gov.uk) Barton said Downing Street told him on December 18 that it wanted Mandelson in Washington by January 20, 2025, for Donald Trump’s inauguration. He described that as a “very compressed timescale” that created pressure to move the process quickly. (civilserviceworld.com) (committees.parliament.uk) He told MPs the pressure was about speed, not about forcing a particular vetting outcome. But he said nobody in the department could have missed how urgently No. 10 wanted Mandelson in post. (civilserviceworld.com) (politico.eu) The wider row began after Starmer said on April 20, 2026 that he had discovered only on April 14 that Foreign Office officials granted Mandelson developed-vetting clearance on January 29, 2025 against the recommendation of United Kingdom Security Vetting. Starmer said he “should not have appointed Peter Mandelson.” (gov.uk) Earlier document releases had already shown Mandelson was invited in January 2025 to a briefing on “higher tiers,” described by security sources as classified material, before his vetting was complete. (inews.co.uk) Barton also told MPs he had worried at the time that Mandelson’s publicly known links to Jeffrey Epstein could become a problem in U.S. politics, but said there was no channel for him to put that concern formally into the appointment decision. (lbc.co.uk) (mirror.co.uk) Tuesday’s hearing did not settle who should carry the blame for the appointment. It did pin down one point in public: Barton says the Foreign Office was told to execute the decision first, then race to make the vetting catch up. (committees.parliament.uk) (civilserviceworld.com)