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| Keir Starmer sacks Peter Mandelson over Jeffrey Epstein ties | Keir Starmer sacks Peter Mandelson over Jeffrey Epstein ties |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Foreign Office says extent of US ambassador’s friendship with disgraced financier not disclosed when he was appointed | Foreign Office says extent of US ambassador’s friendship with disgraced financier not disclosed when he was appointed |
| UK politics live – latest updates | UK politics live – latest updates |
| Keir Starmer has sacked Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US over his association with Jeffrey Epstein. | Keir Starmer has sacked Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US over his association with Jeffrey Epstein. |
| The Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told MPs that Lord Mandelson had not disclosed the extent and depth of his friendship with Epstein, a convicted child sex offender, when he was appointed as the ambassador. | |
| He said No 10 had not known about emails from Mandelson to Epstein suggesting his 2008 conviction for soliciting a child for prostitution was wrongful and should be challenged. | He said No 10 had not known about emails from Mandelson to Epstein suggesting his 2008 conviction for soliciting a child for prostitution was wrongful and should be challenged. |
| A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador. | A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador. |
| “The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment. In particular, Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information. | “The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment. In particular, Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information. |
| “In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes, he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.” | “In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes, he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.” |
| Before Mandelson’s departure was announced, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told an event that he was “completely disgusted” by messages Mandelson sent to Epstein and that his future was “a decision for the prime minister”. | |
| Government sources said Starmer took the decision during a meeting with Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, on Thursday morning, after reviewing the new material on Mandelson’s defence of Epstein the previous night. It is understood Mandelson himself had not, until the leak, had access to the emails written in 2008 because they came from a long-deleted account. | |
| Mandelson’s departure comes at a difficult time for No 10 as it prepares a state visit for the US president, Donald Trump, who is facing his own questions about his friendship with Epstein. It is understood that James Roscoe, the deputy head of mission in Washington, will be interim ambassador and supervise the state visit. | |
| Both David Miliband, a former Labour foreign secretary, and Cathy Ashton, a former EU commissioner, were previously on the shortlist for the US ambassador job. Karen Pierce, who held the job before Mandelson, is among those who could be asked to return. | |
| The episode will raise questions about Starmer’s judgment in having appointed Mandelson, given it was known that the ambassador had continued his association with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction. | The episode will raise questions about Starmer’s judgment in having appointed Mandelson, given it was known that the ambassador had continued his association with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction. |
| Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, called for Starmer to come to parliament to explain what he knew and when, while Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said: “Mandelson might have gone but, just as with Angela Rayner, Starmer dithered when he needed to be decisive. Time and again he puts party above country. He has no backbone and no convictions.” | |
| The SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, said Starmer’s “judgment, his reputation and his authority are now on the line”. | |
| Some Labour MPs are furious about yet another political blunder in the week after Rayner had to resign as deputy prime minister over her tax affairs. However, Harriet Harman, the former Labour deputy leader, suggested the blame lay with Mandelson, and said it was “shameful” that the politician had put himself forward for the job knowing that such emails had been written and that there was more to come out about their friendship. | |
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| Starmer had on Wednesday at prime minister’s questions backed Mandelson, insisting the ambassador had been fully vetted. | |
| However, he faced overwhelming pressure to act after it emerged that Mandelson told Epstein to fight for early release from jail as the disgraced financier faced an 18-month sentence for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute in 2008. | |
| The emails were published by the Sun after circulating in Washington DC, hours after Mandelson admitted on Tuesday that more “very embarrassing” details of his friendship with Epstein were likely to emerge. He insisted he had never witnessed any “wrongdoing”. | The emails were published by the Sun after circulating in Washington DC, hours after Mandelson admitted on Tuesday that more “very embarrassing” details of his friendship with Epstein were likely to emerge. He insisted he had never witnessed any “wrongdoing”. |
| In an email from June 2008, which was not disputed by his spokesperson, Mandelson wrote to Epstein: “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened. | In an email from June 2008, which was not disputed by his spokesperson, Mandelson wrote to Epstein: “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened. |
| “I can still barely understand it. It just could not happen in Britain. You have to be incredibly resilient, fight for early release and be philosophical about it as much as you can.” | “I can still barely understand it. It just could not happen in Britain. You have to be incredibly resilient, fight for early release and be philosophical about it as much as you can.” |
| It continued: “Everything can be turned into an opportunity and that you will come through it and be stronger for it.” | It continued: “Everything can be turned into an opportunity and that you will come through it and be stronger for it.” |
| The friendship between the two men came under a renewed spotlight earlier this week after Democratic members of the US House oversight committee released Epstein’s 50th “birthday book”, in which Mandelson called him “my best pal” in a handwritten note. |