TOKYO/LONDON — British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper has cut short an intensive diplomatic tour designed to build consensus around making a ceasefire in the Iran war permanent and on the next steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as political pressure at home over the Peter Mandelson scandal intensifies.
Cooper’s department is at the centre of a new crisis over Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the United States, after the government last week said foreign office officials had overruled a recommendation that he should not be given the role.
That revelation led to new calls from political opponents for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign. Starmer says he was not told of the initial vetting recommendation and is due to speak to parliament on the matter later on Monday.
Against that backdrop, Cooper will return to London early from the Japan leg of her trip after meetings on Monday, cancelling a scheduled speech in Tokyo on Tuesday and skipping a planned return to the Gulf.
A foreign office official said Cooper had condensed her schedule and was returning to meet parliamentary commitments. She is expected to appear at her department’s scheduled question and answer session in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
In a post on X, Cooper said she had travelled through five countries and spoken to more than a dozen foreign ministers and counterparts “to maintain international pressure on opening the Strait of Hormuz.”
The top official in her department, Olly Robbins, was sacked last week after Starmer and Cooper lost confidence in him over what Downing Street said was his decision to overturn the vetting recommendation that Mandelson should not be cleared.
Robbins is expected to appear before a parliamentary committee on Tuesday. That comes after allies spoke out publicly to say he had been treated harshly by ministers.
Cooper’s truncated diplomatic tour — which was focused on Iran ceasefire and Strait of Hormuz negotiations — highlights how deeply the Mandelson scandal has penetrated the heart of Britain’s foreign policy apparatus.
With Starmer facing parliament, Robbins facing a committee, and Cooper rushing home, the crisis shows no signs of abating.
Sources: Reuters
