A senior Labour MP has said “red flags were missed or ignored” before Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the US, in an emergency debate about his sacking.
Dame Emily Thornberry, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said “something went very wrong” given Lord Mandelson’s known links to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
Lord Mandelson was sacked last week after the publication of emails that showed the Labour peer had sent supportive messages to Epstein as he faced jail in 2008.
In the debate, the appointment was widely criticised by MPs, including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of “hiding from questions”.
Badenoch said the prime minister had “shrivelled” from leadership and called on him to apologise to Epstein’s victims.
On Monday, Sir Keir said he would “never” have appointed Lord Mandelson if he had known the full details of his relationship with Epstein.
The prime minister sacked Lord Mandelson after reviewing a cache of emails between the Labour peer and Epstein.
The emails were published by Bloomberg after Sir Kier had expressed confidence in Lord Mandelson in Parliament, and the prime minister has insisted he did not know what was in the messages at that point.
An emergency debate was requested by the Conservative MP David Davis, who said the prime minister’s standing had been “diminished” by the appointment of Lord Mandelson.
Dame Emily, who spoke in the debate, said she had asked the government questions about the vetting of Lord Mandelson and had received responses from Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
In a letter, Cooper suggested her department was not responsible for any failure to recognise risks in the appointment of Lord Mandelson.
She said no concerns about Lord Mandelson were raised with the Foreign Office after a due diligence process was conducted by the Cabinet Office.
The Foreign Office, she said, was not asked to contribute to that process.
Her comments throw the spotlight on the Cabinet Office and Sir Keir for their role in deciding whether Lord Mandelson was a suitable candidate.
“Clearly we all think [the appointment] was a mistake,” Dame Emily told MPs.
“The question is, how did that mistake occur? And how do we make sure this sort of thing does not happen again because something went very wrong.
“When Lord Mandelson was appointed, red flags were obviously missed or ignored.”
The debate comes ahead of a state visit to the UK by US President Donald Trump, who is expected to arrive in the country on Tuesday evening.
