Ruptly
"UK Cabinet Office chief Cat Little - one of the top civil servants tasked with assisting the prime minister - sensationally admitted on Thursday that there appeared to be no record of Keir Starmer's decision to sign off the appointment of his former US ambassador Peter Mandelson. "Why is there no formal record of the actual meeting at which the Prime Minister decided to go ahead and make the appointment?" she was asked as she was grilled by lawmakers on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. "It is normal to keep a record of those sorts of decisions. But there isn't one of these. I have shared with you the information that we have," she said. "Are you asking why there isn't a further document setting out the record of that meeting?" she was asked. "Wouldn't you expect to see further information around this?" "I would," she admitted. Mandelson was sacked after his links to the late paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein - although denies wrongdoing. Starmer himself has been under intense pressure to quit over the way Mandelson was given security clearance - with Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins this week alleging there had been 'intense pressure' on his department from the PM's own office. The PM also fired Robbins last week, saying he'd failed to tell him about vetting issues - but Little also refused to back Starmer's version, contradicting him twice in her astonishing exchange with MPs. "Is it your view that generally you think ministers or the Prime Minister should be involved in that final decision on whether or not to grant security clearance?" she was asked. "I think it's a judgement for the individual decision-making authority. In this instance, that is the Foreign Office," she said, adding that it was 'highly unusual' for ministers to see vetting papers and that 'due process' was followed. "
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