PM WAS WARNED ON 'REPUTATION RISK' OF HIRING MANDELSON

Starmer under pressure as files reveal disgraced lord was 'weirdly rushed' into US post

- BY JONATHAN WALKER Whitehall Editor

SIR Keir Starmer was officially warned over Lord Mandelson's friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before he made him ambassador to the US, files reveal.

The PM was told of a "reputational risk" if he handed the top diplomatic post to the Labour veteran, who had kept up the link long after the financier was convicted.

Released "Mandelson files" show he sought a £500,000 payout upon being fired - but received £75,000, which MPs now want back.

The disgraced peer's hiring was described as "weirdly rushed" by Sir Keir's national security adviser Jonathan Powell. The disclosures in government documents appear to contradict the Prime Minister's earlier claim that Mandelson "lied throughout the [appointment] process" and that the extent of his friendship with Epstein "was not disclosed".

The first bundles of files were published last night after the Tories used Parliamentary procedure to force the government to release papers relating to the lord's elevation to US ambassador in 2024, and his eventual sacking last year.

In a "due diligence" memo sent to Sir Keir on December 11, 2024, from the then Cabinet Secretary Lord Simon Case, the PM was informed: "After Epstein was first convicted of procuring an underage girl in 2008, their relationship continued across 2009-2011." It continued: "Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein's House while he was in jail in June 2009."

The Cabinet Office's propriety and ethics team warned of various risks that Mandelson's appointment posed to the government.

In a briefing note on his relationship with Epstein, it states: "A 2019 report commissioned by JPMorgan found that Epstein appeared to 'maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew the Duke of York and Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British government'."