Starmer's claim that he was kept in the dark about Mandelson's failed vetting strains all credibility — this was one of the biggest appointments his government made, and a self-described forensic lawyer simply didn't ask the right questions. The rushed appointment, Mandelson's well-documented Epstein ties and his business dealings with China and Russia were all public knowledge long before any vetting began. Blaming civil servants for a mess of his own making is exactly the kind of accountability-dodging Starmer once condemned in others.