The job of defence lawyers is to get clients off the hook – regardless of whether they are innocent or guilty.
They may exploit any legal loophole, alight on any technical or bureaucratic error in the prosecution and try to shove the blame on others to secure an acquittal.
Politics is different, especially when the man in the dock is the prime minister.
Sir Keir Starmer can’t simply blame everyone else for his own shortcomings, or plead ignorance when scandal emerges at the heart of his government.
And he can’t escape the shadow of guilt by sacking his underlings and saying they let him down. He is the head of government, not some bemused observer.
Sir Keir’s lawyerly approach to the Mandelson fiasco perfectly illustrates the staggering lack of political judgment which has dogged his spell in power.
In the court of public opinion (and large sections of his own party) he has already been found guilty – of incompetence at best, deception at worst. He may cling on until after the local elections next month, but his days are numbered.
Consider the facts. In December 2024, Sir Keir decided to appoint Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US, believing he could work well with Donald Trump.
Given Mandelson’s track record of dishonesty, links with notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and various dubious oligarchs and relentless pursuit of money, it was an ill-advised choice. Yet despite many alarm bells, including an initial assessment warning that the appointment carried ‘reputational risk’, the PM was adamant.
He gave Lord Mandelson the job before rigorous ‘developed vetting’ (DV) was carried out – an astonishing move considering the peer’s chequered past.
We now discover Mandelson failed the DV procedure in January last year yet was still given clearance to take up his post.
The PM’s big problem is that he has repeatedly told the Commons ‘full due process’ was observed. That is clearly untrue, meaning that Sir Keir misled Parliament on multiple occasions (including twice in one day). The key question now is whether he did it knowingly. If he did, he must resign.
He claims chief Foreign Office mandarin Sir Olly Robbins knew Mandelson had failed security vetting but declined to tell him. ‘I’m absolutely furious I wasn’t told,’ Sir Keir said.
But is it credible that a civil servant of Sir Olly’s seniority and experience would take such a vital decision unilaterally? That is not how government works. Civil servants advise, ministers decide. And as a man obsessed with process, is it plausible that Sir Keir didn’t ask the result of DV before Lord Mandelson took on the most important role in the diplomatic service?
What does it say about his leadership that he was so strangely incurious? He’s supposed to be driving the Government train, not merely riding along as a passenger.
Sir Olly has now resigned, the latest in a long line of senior advisers sacrificed to save the PM’s skin.
However, we have yet to hear his version of events, which will be highly instructive. Interestingly, his supporters insist he has done nothing wrong.
On Monday, Sir Keir will make a last-ditch attempt to cling on to power, with a Commons statement giving ‘full transparency’ on this sorry saga. But for all his bluster, the truth is he’s doomed.
