LONDON, Feb 4 - Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed regret on Wednesday for appointing Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington, saying the Labour veteran had created a "litany of deceit" about his ties to U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer ceded to pressure from the opposition Conservative Party to release documents on how Mandelson was appointed, and was forced to water down an attempt to limit the scope of that disclosure after facing a revolt in his own Labour Party.
Mandelson, a government minister when Labour was previously in power more than 15 years ago, quit the House of Lords on Tuesday over links to Epstein, and is now under police investigation for alleged misconduct in office.
Files released by the U.S. Justice Department last week include emails suggesting Mandelson had leaked government documents to Epstein, and that Epstein had recorded payments to Mandelson or his then-partner, now husband.
OPPOSITION QUESTIONS STARMER'S JUDGEMENT
Mandelson has said he does not recall having received payments. He has not commented publicly on allegations he leaked documents, and did not respond to messages seeking comment.
On Wednesday, Starmer defended his own response, saying he had moved quickly to strip all titles and roles from a man he accused of "betraying" Britain.
Asked in parliament whether vetting carried out before Mandelson's appointment had mentioned that Mandelson and Epstein had had an ongoing relationship, Starmer replied:
"Yes, it did. As a result, various questions were put to him," Starmer said. He then said Mandelson had lied throughout the process and that related documents would show this.
But Starmer's explanation of how Mandelson was appointed did little to quieten opposition voices, who said the ambassador's selection in 2024 put a question mark over the judgment of Starmer and his closest adviser, Morgan McSweeney.
It also did little to quell anger in the Labour Party, with lawmakers increasingly frustrated over Starmer's appointment of Mandelson and a series of embarrassing policy U-turns.
MANDELSON 'LIED REPEATEDLY'
"I am as angry as anyone about what Mandelson has been up to. The disclosures that have been made this week of him passing sensitive information at the height of the response to the 2008 financial crash is utterly shocking and appalling," Starmer told a rowdy session of parliament.
"He has betrayed our country, he's lied repeatedly, he's responsible for a litany of deceit. But this moment demands not just anger but action, and that's why we've moved quickly," he said after telling lawmakers he had agreed with King Charles to remove Mandelson from the sovereign's formal body of advisers.
A chaotic afternoon in the House of Commons, in which lawmakers from all sides lined up to criticise Starmer and demand maximum transparency, culminated in the government agreeing a compromise to avoid an embarrassing defeat.
After Labour Party lawmakers complained, the government dropped a proposal to withhold documents about Mandelson that it deemed prejudicial to national security or international relations. They will instead be handed to parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee.
British police said they had also asked the government not to release some documents over concerns that could undermine their investigation into allegations against Mandelson of misconduct in public office.
EMAILS SENT TO EPSTEIN
Emails released last week appeared to indicate that in 2009 Mandelson had sent Epstein a government memo about possible UK asset sales and tax changes, and in 2010 gave Epstein advance notice of a European Union 500-billion-euro bailout package.
Starmer appointed Mandelson, arguing that his past work in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and as the EU's trade commissioner made him an ideal person to navigate relations with Washington under President Donald Trump.
Starmer sacked Mandelson in September after seven months in the job, when documents emerged showing he had remained close to Epstein after the financier was convicted in 2008 of child sex crimes.
(Reporting by Muvija M, Sam Tabahriti and Elizabeth Piper; Additional reporting by Sarah Young; Writing by Sam Tabahriti and William James; Editing by Paul Sandle, Peter Graff, David Holmes and Alistair Bell)
