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A senior Labour MP asserted that “red flags were missed or ignored” in the vetting process preceding Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the US, during an emergency parliamentary debate concerning his dismissal.
Dame Emily Thornberry, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, stated that “something went very wrong” given Lord Mandelson’s documented associations with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Lord Mandelson was removed from his post last week following the publication of emails revealing supportive correspondence between the Labour peer and Epstein as he faced imprisonment in 2008.
The appointment was widely criticized by MPs during the debate, including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of “evading scrutiny”.
Badenoch claimed the prime minister had “abdicated” leadership and urged him to issue an apology to Epstein’s victims.
On Monday, Sir Keir stated he would “never” have appointed Lord Mandelson had he been fully aware of the details surrounding his relationship with Epstein.
The prime minister terminated Lord Mandelson’s appointment after reviewing a collection of emails exchanged between the Labour peer and Epstein.
Bloomberg published the emails after Sir Keir had expressed confidence in Lord Mandelson in Parliament, and the prime minister has maintained he was unaware of the content of the messages at that time.
The emergency debate was initiated by Conservative MP David Davis, who suggested the prime minister’s reputation had been “damaged” by the appointment of Lord Mandelson.
Dame Emily, who participated in the debate, said she had submitted inquiries to the government regarding the vetting of Lord Mandelson and had received responses from Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
In a letter, Cooper implied her department bore no responsibility for any failure to identify risks associated with Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
She stated that no concerns regarding Lord Mandelson were brought to the attention of the Foreign Office following a due diligence process conducted by the Cabinet Office.
The Foreign Office, she added, was not asked to contribute to that process.
Her remarks focus attention on the Cabinet Office and Sir Keir concerning their role in assessing Lord Mandelson’s suitability as a 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 ensure 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.”
Dame Emily was among a limited number of Labour MPs who spoke in the debate, with the majority of contributions coming from the opposition.
Outside of Parliament, some Labour MPs have been privately and publicly critical with a few questioning if Sir Keir can stay on as prime minister.
During the debate, several Conservatives criticized Sir Keir for failing to attend and sending Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty in his place.
Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey said the prime minister should apologize to victims of Jeffrey Epstein.
“How must it have felt for the victims to see another of Epstein’s closest friends made British ambassador to the United States,” he said.
“How must it have felt for them to hear ministers say, even after Mandelson was sacked, that his appointment was a risk worth taking?”
Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader in Westminster, said: “I do not know what it is about the decades of scandals and being best friends with a notorious child trafficker and paedophile, which should have got some alarm bells ringing in No 10 before this decision was taken.”
Asked if the government would apologise to victims, Doughty said he had made “very clear our position on Epstein’s victims and our horror at the revelations”.
He said the prime minister had acted “decisively” in response to new information about Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein.
Last week, Lord Mandelson said he “very deeply” regretted his friendship with Epstein, which he said he continued “for far longer than I should have done”.
He said he never saw wrongdoing while with Epstein and he “never sought, nor did [Epstein] offer introductions to women in the way that he did to others, perhaps it is because I am a gay man”.
The debate precedes a state visit to the UK by US President Donald Trump, who is scheduled to arrive in the country on Tuesday evening.
During the visit, the prime minister may face questions regarding Mandelson while standing alongside Trump, who himself had links to Epstein.
Trump and Epstein were friends but the president has said the pair fell out in the early 2000s.
Epstein was first criminally indicted in 2006 in Florida and pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges involving a minor.
He died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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