UK’s new ambassador to US said Starmer had been ‘on the ropes’ over Mandelson scandal | Keir Starmer
Britain’s new ambassador to the US has described Keir Starmer as “on a tightrope” over the Peter Mandelson scandal and said it is Israel rather than Britain that has a “special relationship” with the White House.
Christian Turner, who replaced Mandelson as the UK’s most senior diplomat in Washington in February, made the remarks privately to a group of students visiting the US the month he was appointed.
His remarks are embarrassing for Downing Street because they emerged the same week the king made a state visit under president Donald Trump, who had previously branded Mandelson a “really bad choice”. Mandelson was sacked by the prime minister last year for misleading him about the depth of his friendship with late child sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Turner told the students that it was “remarkable” that the scandal “touched no one” in the US, but that it “took down” Mandelson and “potentially the prime minister”. Finance Times reported.
He said Starmer was “quite clearly on the ropes” at one point and that his future looked “pretty touchy” due to the fallout from the scandal, adding that Starmer was a “stubborn guy” who was unlikely to give up on his own accord. “The moment I look at it is the May elections,” Turner said.
“If Labor does so badly… I suspect the party might cross that threshold and remove him from office; that seems to me to be the conventional wisdom.”
He added: “If things go well, he can move on… That applies to me as a speculating citizen because I have to serve whoever is there.”
Regarding the special relationship, Turner said it was “quite nostalgic, quite backward-looking, and carries a lot of baggage,” adding: “There’s probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States, and that’s probably Israel.”
After the comments were published on Tuesday, a Foreign Office spokesman said: “These were private, unofficial comments made to a group of UK sixth form students visiting the US in early February. They are certainly not a reflection of the UK government’s position.”
A Whitehall source said the debate was informal and focused on students’ questions about diplomacy and political issues of the day, and was clearly never intended as an on-the-record statement of government policy. No 10 had no comment on Turner’s remarks, which were unusually frank for a diplomat.
Turner was appointed a career civil servant and diplomat, a supposedly safe pairing after Mandelson’s disastrous political appointment. He was chosen over Starmer’s business adviser, Varun Chandra, who took on an expanded role at Downing Street, and Russian ambassador Nigel Casey.
Chandra was initially seen as the favorite for the high-profile post, but Olly Robbins, formerly the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, is understood to be lobbying against another political appointment. Robbins was sacked by the prime minister earlier this month after failing to tell him that Mandelson had failed his security clearance; But Robbins argues that putting mitigation measures in place is standard procedure and is not as simple as a pass-or-fail test.
At the time of Turner’s appointment, the prime minister said: “I am delighted that Christian Turner has been appointed as British ambassador to the United States. The United Kingdom and the United States have a very special relationship and Christian’s extensive experience as an outstanding diplomat will support this uniquely close bond and ensure it continues to thrive.”
“I warmly congratulate him as he begins his work to further develop our strong economic and security ties and serve the British people.”
Turner was previously ambassador to the UN and political director at the State Department. He brokered a close relationship with the new Labor administration before taking up the UN post in New York.
