Esther McVey has accused the Prime Minister of a “staggering lack of curiosity” over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador.
She said that Keir Starmer chose to ignore any information that could get in the way of his “friend” taking up the role.
Last week it came to light that Lord Mandelson had failed vetting clearance – something the PM maintains he was not aware of.
But Ms McVey questioned the validity of the claim.
Speaking in Parliament as the PM addressed MPs, she said: “The Prime Minister said today ‘I know many members across this House will find these facts to be incredible’, he is right, we do, along with his staggering lack of curiosity and his inability to take on board warnings about his good friend Peter Mandelson, because the Prime Minister was given a due diligence documents by the Cabinet Office which told him several reasons why Peter Mandelson should not be appointed.
“(He was) Fired twice from government, business dealings in Russia and China and the fact that he had maintained a relationship with Epstein after his imprisonment for paedophilia. The Prime Minister knew this but appointed him anyway, why Prime Minister, why?”
The PM said Lord Mandelson was asked various questions on the back of the due diligence exercise but “he did not tell the truth in those answers.”
Sir Keir added: “But the decision to appoint him was an error, it was my error, and I have apologised for it.”
In his statement he told MPs that he would not have proceeded with the appointment of Lord Mandelson if he had known UK Security Vetting (UKSV), the agency responsible for conducting assessments, had declined to approve the peer.
Last week the Foreign Office’s top civil servant Sir Olly Robbins was all but fired by the PM over the scandal.
