Prospect raises concerns with Prime Minister over UKSV review and vetting process

Prospect’s General Secretary, Mike Clancy, has written to the Prime Minister regarding the recent controversy surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US, and the spotlight it has shone on our members working in UK Security Vetting (UKSV).

As the recognised trade union for workers in UKSV, we are deeply concerned that following the controversy over Mandelson’s appointment, the Government and the Prime Minister himself appeared to lay the blame on a failure in the vetting undertaken by UKSV. 

However, recent revelations have shown that this was not the case, and that blame was wrongly attributed to the dedicated professionals working at UKSV who are not able to defend themselves in public. Not only were UKSV put in an invidious position by being asking to conduct vetting after the appointment had been announced, but evidence now shows that their advice was overruled.

As a result, in the letter we question why a review of UKSV – which the Prime Minister announced when he was under the impression that a failure of vetting had occurred – is continuing when it is now clear that there was no failure of vetting. We also call on the Prime Minister to publish the terms of reference for this review, and to include a formal mechanism for staff at UKSV to feed into that review through their trade union.

The letter also calls on the Prime Minister and the Government to recommit to the principle that the details and findings of vetting processes should be kept strictly private. The integrity of the vetting process, and the willingness of individuals to undergo vetting, is dependent on this important principle.

You can read the letter here.