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Embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer was accused of hypocrisy by political commentator Duncan Barkes, who discussed the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal on GB News breakfast. Speaking to hosts Ellie Costello and Alex Armstrong, he said the Labour Party was full of cronies despite Starmer's protestations.

"I think there's a sizeable chunk of the Labour vote who put their support behind Labour in the General Election in 2024 because they weren't the Conservative Party," he said. They saw the Tories as being full of cronies and all of the stuff (with) Boris Johnson or Rishi Sunak et cetera, et cetera. And Starmer made a big point about saying, 'Look, we're not like that. Give us a shot. It'll be very different from what we've seen over the last almost two years. It's not the case. And the Mandelson stuff is playing out, and particularly what we heard with Sir Olly Robbins yesterday, makes it very, very clear that there was an element of like, well, it's a job for the boys," he said.

He continued: "Anyone with a brain can see, put the security vetting to one side in the idea of leading towards not passing him (for the job), Mandelson had a very clear track record in the past.

"He was effectively sacked twice by Tony Blair. You know, he wasn't nicknamed the Prince of Darkness for fun.

"And...of course, we know, he remained friends with Jeffrey Epstein. All of these should have been red flags.

"And what we heard yesterday with Olly Robbins. There was clearly pressure to actually approve Mandelson and get him into the job of the US ambassador," he observed.

"And that is nothing else but pure cronyism, looking after one of your own. And I think you know what Starmer did in Opposition when he was leader of the Labour Party has come back to bite him on the backside," he opined.

His remarks came following Dame Emily Thornberry's quizzing of Sir Olly Robbins about what Sir Keir Starmer knew about Lord Mandelson on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.

During the interrogation he claimed "the decision was taken by the Cabinet Office that there was no need to vet Mandelson" and confirmed "my office were under constant pressure" from No 10 to clear the Labour stalwart's appointment as ambassador to the United States.

He also confirmed Emily Thornberry's statement that Morgan McSweeney had called his predecessor with the exhortation: "Just f***ing approve it!"