Minister Backs Starmer Amid Mandelson Appointment Controversy
A Labour Welsh government minister has expressed support for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as he prepares to address MPs regarding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK Ambassador to the United States.
Ken Skates, the Transport Secretary, stated that Starmer "was failed" and is justified in being "furious" for not being informed that Mandelson had failed a vetting check conducted by officials prior to his appointment.
Skates told BBC Politics Wales,
"Obviously Starmer would never have appointed Mandelson had he been aware of this."
Opposition parties have called for the prime minister's resignation, accusing him of misleading Parliament by previously asserting that due process had been followed in Mandelson's appointment.
Starmer is scheduled to address MPs in the House of Commons on Monday following revelations last week that Mandelson was appointed despite security concerns. Downing Street acknowledged that red flags identified during the vetting process were not communicated to them.
Skates commented,
"The prime minister is right to be furious that this wasn't raised with him.
I've gone through the process of appointing people as a minister, and you trust and rely on the vetting process to highlight any concerns that may arise and obviously the prime minister was failed on this front and he's right to be furious."
Political Reactions Ahead of Welsh Senedd Election
The controversy in Westminster arises less than three weeks before the Senedd election in Wales, where the issue of who "stands up for Wales" has been a significant campaign topic.
When questioned about the risk of appearing to support an embattled prime minister, Skates defended Starmer's stance, noting his opposition to former US President Donald Trump over the war in Iran.
He added,
"People are recognising the prime minister was right to stand up to [Trump], right that we shouldn't have gone into the war in Iran. And people recognise that stability and security are of the utmost importance."
James Evans of Reform UK told Politics Wales,
"I know Ken has tried his best to deflect away there and blame Donald Trump, but I'm afraid to say what people are telling me is they want to change. They want the prime minister gone and they want to change here in Wales."
Philip Davies from the Welsh Green Party criticized Labour, stating,
"This little club in Labour that are just interested in their own selves, not interested in the wider public and how to make people's lives better. And that's what we're focusing on."
Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP, expressed disbelief at Labour's support for Starmer, saying,
"It beggars belief that Labour in Wales are offering their full support to a prime minister who has demonstrated a complete lack of judgement."
Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, stated,
"The British public have a right to be furious. Sir Keir Starmer has lost control of his own vetting process. He should never have appointed Lord Mandelson in the first place."
The Liberal Democrats have been approached for comment but have not yet responded.
Reform UK’s Costings Uncertainty
Also appearing on the programme, James Evans contributed to the ongoing confusion regarding whether Reform UK will publish the costings for its manifesto.
During a visit to Merthyr Tydfil on Thursday, Nigel Farage and the party's Welsh leader, Dan Thomas, stated they would release their costings if other parties did the same. Subsequently, party officials clarified that Reform UK would publish their costings regardless but encouraged other parties to follow suit.
On Sunday, Evans reverted to the earlier position, leaving uncertainty about whether the party will disclose how it plans to fund its manifesto commitments.
He said,
"We've been very clear. We'll release our costings if Ken [Skates] will release his and other parties release theirs, we'll release ours."
When asked to clarify if this was conditional, Evans confirmed it was.
The Welsh Greens declined the invitation to publish their costings, describing it as "a bit of a fantasy." Davies added,
"It gets a bit stupid to be held to account on figures that are outside our control.
You don't know what it's cost and you also don't know how much benefits from other areas you can bring back into the economy."
When challenged by Evans on whether the Greens' Rent Freeze policy could hinder young people from entering the housing market, Davies responded,
"We've seen it work in Scotland. We used to have rent control in the UK, it wasn't controversial. We had them from 1915 all the way up to Margaret Thatcher.
This idea that this is a big radical thing. It isn't. It's just such simple policy that will improve people's lives in Wales and mean [young people] can actually stay here."
Representatives from Plaid Cymru, the Liberal Democrats, and the Conservatives also appeared on Politics Wales last week.
