Starmer sacks Mandelson as US ambassador over Epstein ties

Peter Mandelson has been sacked as the UK's ambassador to the US by Sir Keir Starmer over his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The prime minister, who selected Lord Mandelson for the role, made the decision after new emails revealed the Labour peer sent messages of support to Epstein even as he faced jail for sex offences in 2008.

In one particular message, Lord Mandelson had suggested that Epstein's first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told MPs.

"In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein's appalling crimes, he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect."

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The Foreign Office said the emails showed "the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment".

Lord Mandelson has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.

The decision to sack the diplomat was made by the prime minister and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper this morning, Sky News understands. This was after Sir Keir had reviewed all the new available information last night.

It comes after a string of allegations around the diplomat's relationship with Epstein, which emerged in the media this week, including a 2003 birthday message in which he called the sex offender his "best pal".

Further allegations were then published in The Telegraph on Wednesday morning, suggesting that Lord Mandelson had emailed Epstein to set up business meetings following the latter's conviction for child sex offences in 2008.

Additional emails were then published detailing how the diplomat wrote to Epstein the day before he went to prison in June 2008 to serve time for soliciting sex from a minor. Lord Mandelson said: "I think the world of you."

Sir Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that he had "confidence" in Lord Mandelson as his ambassador to the US.

However, the Foreign Office said "additional information" had since "come to light" in emails written by Lord Mandelson.

"The emails show that the depth and extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment," Mr Doughty explained.

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party, called for Lord Mandelson to be sacked on Wednesday.

She said the situation is evidence Sir Keir has "failed yet another key test of leadership", and described the prime minister as "weak" and lacking courage.

"He gave his full backing to a man unfit for office," she said.

Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, added: "[Starmer] needs to come before parliament and explain why Lord Mandelson was appointed in the first place, given everything the government knew then."

James Cleverly, the former foreign secretary, said the scandal amounts to a "fiasco".

"This is all Starmer's fault. I can see him being gone by Christmas," he said.

Meanwhile, Labour MP Andy McDonald told Sky News there should be an inquiry after what he described as a "catastrophic failure of intelligence" behind the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson.

"It doesn't look good that the prime minister came to the dispatch box yesterday, seemingly in possession of information that led him to express confidence in Mandelson, and then some short few hours later to have information that took him to a completely different conclusion, that's a worry," Andy McDonald said.

Lord Mandelson said in an interview with The Sun on Wednesday that he feels a "tremendous sense of regret" around his relationship with the convicted sex offender.

The diplomat said he regrets "very much that I fell for his lies... and accepted assurances he had given me about his indictment", which saw Epstein jailed in 2008.

Lord Mandelson said: "He's a charismatic, criminal liar we now see, and I regret very much indeed.

"I felt it like an albatross around my neck since his death in 2018 or 2019, whenever it was. I feel a tremendous sense of regret."

He has been contacted for a comment.