Ex-ambassador demanded £500k after his sacking

The documents disclose that Sir Keir said “serious discomfort” among Labour MPs contributed to his decision to sack Mandelson.

- 

Security adviser Mr Powell commented after the peer’s removal that he had found the appointment process “unusual” and “weirdly rushed”, according to the record of a telephone call. The memo said that Sir Philip Barton, the then Foreign Office permanent under secretary, “also had reservations around the appointment”.

A Foreign Office memo confirming Mandelson’s £75,000 taxpayer-funded payout said: “If there’s any pushback, it might be worth mentioning that he opened negotiations asking us to pay out his contract (over £500k).”