Chris Mason: Mandelson nightmare haunts Starmer again, as senior figure effectively sacked

Chris Mason: Mandelson nightmare haunts Starmer again, as senior figure effectively sacked9 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleChris MasonPolitical editorAFP via Getty ImagesSir Keir Starmer (left) and Lord Peter MandelsonThe prime minister's decision to send Lord Mandelson to Washington is like a horror film for Sir Keir Starmer, stuck on repeat.The whole saga has now cost another person their job – Sir Olly Robbins, the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office.And there are some, both on the opposition benches and within the Labour Party, who think it might yet cost the prime minister his.Let me walk you through the extraordinary twists and turns of Thursday afternoon and evening.Shortly after 15:00 BST, the Guardian published its story saying that Lord Mandelson had failed his security vetting clearance, but the decision had been overruled by the Foreign Office.I immediately made calls to the Foreign Office, Downing Street, the then Foreign Secretary David Lammy's team and the Cabinet Office. None of them engaged, for nearly three hours.Usually, when a story isn't right or has perhaps leapt to conclusions seen to be unreasonable, my phone will be ringing in seconds. But it didn't.The opposition parties quickly concluded there must be something in the Guardian's claims, and one after another they appeared in front of the cameras to claim the prime minister had misled the House of Commons, and if he had done so knowingly, he would have to resign.As I headed to our live camera to report on this for the BBC News at Six, a statement from the government appeared on my phone.Neither the prime minister nor any minister had any idea this was conclusion that had been reached, it said.Those opposition parties returned to the cameras and microphones.How on Earth could he have been so lacking in curiosity about the process, they asked.The prime minister will address Parliament, probably on Monday, to address this – and what he knew a...