No way back to government role for Mandelson after Epstein scandal, Starmer says
Lord Mandelson, who sacked him over his relationship with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, will not be able to hold any government roles in the future, Keir Starmer has said.
The Prime Minister fired his Labor colleague after emails were published showing Lord Mandelson sending supportive messages to Epstein despite him facing prison for sex crimes.
No 10 said the emails revealed information that was “materially different” to what was known when he was appointed as the UK’s ambassador to the US earlier this year.
Labour’s leading candidate left the government less than a week after Sir Keir lost deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who resigned after failing to pay enough tax on her new home.
Last week he suggested he could return to government and predicted he would remain an “important voice” in British politics for years to come.
But Lord Mandelson made it clear there was no way back.
Traveling with a two-day trade delegation to India, he was asked by journalists whether Lord Mandelson could see a future in frontline politics and whether he would allow Labor to be whipped in the Lords.
He replied: “I am not involved in the government in terms of future appointments.”
He added: “And I think Peter is on leave from the Lords anyway, so the question of the whip won’t arise.”
Sir Keir sacked Lord Mandelson a day after he told the Commons he had “trust” in his ambassador; It’s a situation that even Labor MPs have described as “disgraceful”.
It follows the publication of emails showing Lord Mandelson sending supportive messages even as Epstein faced jail for sex crimes.
No 10 and the Foreign Office said the emails showed the “depth and extent” of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was “materially different from what was known at the time of his appointment”.
The emails included passages in which Lord Mandelson told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
He also reportedly told Epstein, “I think the world is yours,” the day before the underage financier began his sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution in June 2008.
Sir Keir was accused by the Conservatives of making an “extraordinary error of judgment” in appointing his counterpart to the key post, a key link between the UK and Donald Trump’s White House, as his long-standing relationship with Epstein was well known.
His dismissal came a day after Britain’s then ambassador to Washington said he was “so embarrassed” when he read a birthday message to Epstein in which he described him as his “best friend”.
The message, which was part of a 50th birthday book compiled for Epstein by convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, also saw Lord Mandelson expressing his “love” for the financier and joking about entertaining his “quirky” friends.
Last week Sir Keir hinted that Ms Rayner could return to government just weeks after she resigned from the cabinet.
The Prime Minister praised Ms Rayner as “a great story for social mobility” and added that she would be an “important voice” in British politics in the coming years.
Health minister Wes Streeting also told Labour’s annual party conference that the government “needed” him following his work on the Employment Rights Bill.
Sir Keir said: “Personally, I was very sad to see her go… When we talk about social mobility, there is no bigger story than Angela Rayner coming from very difficult circumstances to become deputy prime minister.”
He added: “She paid a really heavy price and I always thought she would be an important voice in the labor movement again, and I think that’s a good thing. “I’ve been really struck by the number of people who have resigned since she resigned, from different political walks of life, who have told me they would like to see Angela Rayner have that voice again at some stage.”
