Labour MPs' growing fury over Mandelson appointment

Labour MPs have voiced their anger over Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK ambassador to the United States and the government’s handling of his subsequent dismissal. Mandelson was barred from attending the funeral of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Their friendship was already known at the time of his appointment, but Downing Street said that new details about their relationship only came to light this week. One Labour MP described the situation as “a shambles”, while a government minister questioned whether it was still tenable for Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s chief of staff, to remain in office. Increasingly, Mandelson’s appointment is being blamed on McSweeney.

Several senior Labour figures said McSweeney resisted Mandelson’s resignation on Wednesday, with one insider referring to “cold, hard fury” within Downing Street. However, another senior No 10 source denied this, saying that by Wednesday afternoon McSweeney was clear that Mandelson’s position was untenable. “Panic has set in,” one Labour MP told the BBC, urging the prime minister to “get a grip” and warning that only the publication of communications between No 10, McSweeney, and Lord Mandelson before his appointment as ambassador would settle the issue. “It’s very clear the blame should lie with him [McSweeney],” another MP added.

Backbench Labour MPs have also voiced their displeasure publicly. Paula Barker said: “The delay in his dismissal has only served to undermine confidence in our government and politics as a whole.” Charlotte Nichols, another backbencher, added: “His dismissal was not enough — he should never have been promoted in the first place.”

Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander told BBC Breakfast: “In retrospect, if what we know now had been known at the time, the appointment would not have been made.” Following Mandelson’s dismissal and Angela Rayner’s resignation, he admitted Labour MPs were “despondent”. He said: “Many of us were devastated by Angela Rayner’s resignation from the cabinet last week. I totally get it, and Labour MPs will be distraught that, two weeks in a row, we’ve seen significant departures from public service. These are not the headlines that anyone in government or Parliament would have chosen. But the truth is, once the evidence came to light, action was taken, and now we must move forward.”

Frontbencher Alex Burghart said his party would demand a parliamentary vote to release the papers seen by the prime minister and foreign secretary before Mandelson’s appointment. “Those papers exist and will be on file,” he said, adding that it was unlikely security services would not have raised concerns during the vetting process.

Calum Miller, a Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson, said Mandelson’s replacement should be questioned by the foreign affairs committee before being appointed, to prevent further national embarrassment. Emily Thornberry, who chairs the committee, said: “We repeatedly asked to question him ahead of his appointment. The Foreign Office should not have prevented this. The government should welcome such scrutiny.”

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, described Mandelson as “an extraordinarily gifted man” but said his appointment was “a serious misjudgement by the prime minister”. He added: “I think McSweeney’s role is now in question — it’s not just about the prime minister’s judgement, but about the influence McSweeney has in this administration.”

When Mandelson was appointed to Washington, his association with Epstein was already widely known. However, earlier this week US senators released documents from Epstein’s estate, including 2003 birthday messages in which Mandelson referred to Epstein as “my best pal”. Sir Keir Starmer initially defended the appointment on Wednesday, insisting due process had been followed, but sacked Mandelson the following day after the Sun and Bloomberg published emails showing Mandelson offered Epstein support even after his 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor. In one message, sent the day before Epstein began his prison sentence, Mandelson reportedly told him to “fight for early release” and added: “I think the world of you.”

The BBC has been told this information was not available to the government at the time of Mandelson’s appointment, as it came from what was described as a long-closed email account. Douglas Alexander said he felt “incredulity and resentment” after reading the messages, but denied having had any contact with the prime minister over the appointment. “When it reached the prime minister’s desk, he acted and dismissed the ambassador,” he said. Mandelson, he added, had initially been appointed as “an unconventional ambassador to work with Donald Trump’s unorthodox administration.”

With the US President’s state visit to the UK due next week, James Roscoe, deputy head of the Washington embassy, has been named interim ambassador.