Olly Robbins sat in a wood-paneled Parliament room on Tuesday and spoke the words that every social climber in London fears. The former top civil servant told lawmakers there was ‘constant pressure’ to skip the boring security checks for Peter Mandelson, the 72-year-old Jeffrey Epstein associate who Starmer desperately wanted in Washington. According to Robbins, the Prime Minister’s office had a ‘dismissive attitude’ toward the vetting process, treating the rules like a tacky dress code at a second-rate nightclub.

Mandelson was ousted from his short-lived post as ambassador to Washington last year, but the fallout is only just reaching the velvet ropes. Robbins testified that sharing the actual security concerns would have ‘undermined public trust,’ a polite way of saying the guest list was radioactive. Per the parliamentary hearing, the vetting team had advised against the appointment from the very beginning in early 2025.

This paper’s reading: The scandal isn’t the secret, it’s the lack of discretion. Mandelson’s lobbying firm, Global Counsel, reportedly collapsed owing #600,000 in unpaid taxes according to the filing, proving that in 2026, bad credit is a more certain death sentence than a bad reputation. When the state treats national security like an expedited VIP pass, the entire club loses its luster. For Keir Starmer, who promised to end the ‘chaos of sleaze,’ the party looks like it’s over before the first round of drinks is served.