Security Vetting

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

I have already been clear to the House that I trust the Prime Minister’s judgment. The noble Baroness is raising two quite separate things. On the first, the Prime Minister is clear that, when the due diligence process was undertaken, he was not given accurate information by Peter Mandelson. He has said that he would have made a different decision based on that information.

The issue of vetting is different and covers issues such as national security. It is inconceivable that, when the recommendation from UK Security Vetting was that clearance should not be granted, it was not accepted by the Foreign Office, and that the Prime Minister and other Ministers were not told. I come back to the point that I made to the noble Lord, Lord Pannick: what is the point of having this intrusive and robust process if the information is not given to those who make the decisions?

[Baroness Hoey (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, is the noble Baroness aware of whether the Foreign Office has turned down red flag security briefings on ambassadors before? How many times has this happened before? If it has, what is the point of spending money on security services if nobody listens to them?

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

It is not just ambassadors; a number of public appointments are made under this process, and this is something that must be looked at. I do not know the answer to the noble Baroness’s question; I do not know whether others know, but we need that answer as to whether recommendations have been ignored in other cases.