@NormanDunbar@mastodon.scot @Geri@mastodon.online from the independent: "In the wake of reports in The Guardian, the government admitted that officials in the Foreign Office had overruled the recommendation and granted Lord Mandelson what is known as “developed vetting”. But a government spokesperson insisted that neither the prime minister nor any government minister was aware that this had happened until earlier this week". https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mandelson-security-failed-starmer-epstein-b2959156.html This is their story and for now they are sticking with it.