British prime minister Keir Starmer would not have appointed Peter Mandelson as US ambassador if he had known the depth of his relationship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, a senior UK minister has said.
Mr Mandelson, who is a former Northern Ireland secretary, was sacked as Britain’s ambassador to the US on Thursday after emails emerged in which he offered support to Epstein even as he faced jail for sex offences.
Mr Starmer, who had said he had “full confidence” in Mr Mandelson before the emails were published, now faces questions over what he knew and when about the ex-ambassador’s ties to Epstein.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Friday morning, Scotland secretary Douglas Alexander said “nothing justifies” Mr Mandelson’s appointment “in light of what has now emerged”.
But asked about what information had emerged during Mr Mandelson’s vetting process, Mr Alexander said he was not aware of the details as vetting was “necessarily a secret matter”.
Questions about what the British prime minister knew of the connection to Epstein come after allies of Mr Mandelson told The Times that he had admitted in his vetting interview that he continued his relationship with Epstein for many years.
Mr Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein was known prior to his appointment, but reports in The Sun and Bloomberg showed their relationship had continued after the financier's crimes had emerged.
Emails published on Wednesday afternoon included passages in which Mr Mandelson had told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
He is also reported to have told Epstein “I think the world of you” the day before the disgraced financier began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
Arguing that the emails had provided “materially new information” that exposed “manifest weaknesses” in Mr Mandelson’s judgment, Mr Alexander said: “When that reached the prime minister’s desk, he acted and dismissed the ambassador.”
He added that Mr Mandelson’s original appointment had been a “political judgment” that an “unconventional ambassador” was needed to deal with an “unconventional presidential administration” under Donald Trump.
Mr Alexander said: “On one hand, Peter Mandelson did bring some very particular qualities to that job and to that diplomatic post, and on the other hand, as has been confirmed, there were manifest weaknesses of his judgment that have been brutally exposed by these emails.”
Meanwhile, Labour backbenchers have expressed anger at Mr Starmer’s handling of the row over Mr Mandelson, with almost 50 reported to have contacted the chief whip, Jonathan Reynolds, calling for the peer to be sacked.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Alexander said he understood why Labour MPs were “despondent”, as Mr Mandelson’s dismissal came a week after the UK's deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, was forced to resign from the cabinet and Labour’s deputy leadership.
He said: “These are not the headlines any of us in government or in parliament would have chosen or wanted. But the fact is when the evidence emerged, action had to be taken and we are looking forward, therefore, to moving on.”
He added that “while the politics is really hard”, there were still “policy achievements under way”.
