Starmer ignored warning that hiring Mandelson posed Epstein risk

Mandelson left his post in Washington after an investigation revealed the extent of his ties to Epstein. Read more at straitstimes.com.

LONDON – Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite an official vetting process that warned his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein entailed “reputational risks”.

The premier’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell later described the hiring process as “weirdly rushed” – albeit after Mandelson had already been fired, according to documents published online on March 11 by Mr Starmer’s Labour administration.

The papers are being released in tranches after their disclosure was forced by the opposition Conservative Party. The first installment on March 11 show the premier was presented with a vetting file ahead of the appointment which confirmed Mandelson maintained ties with Epstein even after the late paedophile financier pleaded guilty to charges that included procuring a minor for prostitution.

The files also detailed Mandelson’s demands for a severance package exceeding £500,000 (S$854,000). The government eventually agreed to pay him £75,000, a sum that included cash in lieu of his three months’ notice period. Before that was agreed, the Labour grandee remained on the Foreign Office payroll for more than a month after being fired as ambassador.

Mandelson left his post in Washington in September after a Bloomberg investigation revealed his ties to Epstein went further than had previously been known. 

Mr Starmer has insisted he didn’t know the full extent of their links, arguing at the time: “If I’d known then what I know now I’d have never appointed him, because what emerged last week were emails, Bloomberg emails, which showed that the nature and extent of the relationship that Peter Mandelson had with Epstein was far different to what I had understood.”