Sir Keir Starmer has said he would have “never appointed” Peter Mandelson as US ambassador if he knew then what he knows now.
It is the first time Sir Keir has spoken publicly since he sacked Lord Mandelson on Thursday night, when the pressure to get rid of him became too much after more emails between the Labour peer and Epstein were released.
They revealed Lord Mandelson, a minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, sent messages of support to the convicted paedophile financier even as he faced jail for sex offences in 2008.
Politics latest: PM speaks for first time since Mandelson sacking
The prime minister said Lord Mandelson went through a proper due diligence process before his appointment.
But, he added: “Had I known then what I know now, I’d have never appointed him.”
Sir Keir said he knew before Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday afternoon that Lord Mandelson had not yet answered questions from government officials, but was unaware of the contents of the messages that led to his sacking.
Labour MPs already angry over claim Mandelson’s appointment was ‘worth the risk’
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He said Lord Mandelson did not provide answers until “very late” on Wednesday, which was when he decided he had to be “removed”.
Deputy PM David Lammy, foreign secretary until a recent cabinet reshuffle, said “of course” Lord Mandelson went through the proper security and vetting process.
But he added: “The truth is all the issues were weighed and in that time it was known that Peter Mandelson had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, but the scale and extent of that was only known last Wednesday evening when the prime minister surveyed those emails, and by Thursday morning Peter Mandelson was sacked.
“The prime minister, of course, took the right decision to do that.”
Sir Keir is facing further pressure over his leadership abilities due to his handling of Lord Mandelson’s sacking.
The Times reported Downing Street and the Foreign Office were aware of the emails on Tuesday, the day before Sir Keir gave his backing to the ambassador to the US at PMQs – but the PM today said he did not know the content of the messages.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir of “lying to the whole country” about what he knew of Lord Mandelson’s involvement with Epstein.
Labour MPs have also joined in, both in private and publicly, as they question what Sir Keir knew and when.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle telling Sky News that appointing Lord Mandelson to the job was judged to be “worth the risk” at the time has not gone down well with Labour backbenchers.
The timing of Lord Mandelson’s sacking, just before Labour MPs and supporters gather for their party conference and after Angela Rayner’s resignation, comes at a particularly bad moment for Sir Keir.
