Labour MPs' growing fury over Mandelson appointment
Labour MPs have voiced their displeasure with Peter Mandelson's appointment as the UK ambassador to the United States and the handling of his subsequent dismissal. Mandelson was banned from attending the funeral of convicted paedophil Jeffrey Epstein. The men's friendship had already existed at the time of his appointment, but No. 10 said that new details about their marriage only came to light this week. One Labour MP called the situation a shambles
and a government minister said they are starting to wonder how profitable it is
for Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister's chief of staff, to remain in office. Lord Mandelson's appointment is increasingly being blamed on McSweeney.
Several senior Labour figures said McSweeney had been defying Mandelson's resignation on Wednesday, with one insider referring to cold, hard fury
amongst those in Downing Street on the case. However, another senior No. 10 source denied this, saying that by Wednesday afternoon, McSweeney was adamant that Mandelson's position was untenable. Panic has started to set in,
a Labour MP told the BBC, urging the prime minister to get a grip
and warning that only publishing communications between No 10 McSweeney and Lord Mandelson before his appointment as ambassador would put this to bed.
It's very clear the money should go to him,
The deferral of his dismissal has only served to undermine our government's confidence and faith in our government and politics in the round,another MP said [McSweeney]. Some backbench Labour MPs have voiced their displeasure publicly.
Paula Barker said. Mandelson's dismissal wasnot immediately enough,
Charlotte Nichols, her backbench colleague, said,he should never have been promoted in the first place.
Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said on BBC Breakfast,In retrospect, of course, if [it] had been known at the time what is now known,
despondent.the appointment would not have been made. Following a turbulent week that saw Lord Mandelson's dismissal and Angela Rayner's resignation, he said Labour MPs would be
I'm totally get it, and Labour MPs will be distraught that after two weeks in a row we have seen significant departures from public service.Many of us were devastated by [deputy Prime Minister] Angela Rayner's resignation from the cabinet last week.
But the truth is, when the evidence surfaced, action was taken, and we are looking forward, therefore, to moving forward.These are not the headlines that any of us in government or in Parliament would have chosen or desired.
Frontbencher Alex Burghart said his party would demand a vote in Parliament to release the papers that the prime minister and the foreign minister had seen before naming Lord Mandelson.
to prevent further national embarrassment,Those papers exist and will be on file. According to BBC Breakfast, it's unlikely that they would not have been alerted by the security services through the vetting process. Calum Miller, a Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson, said that
repeatedlyMandelson's replacement should first question the foreign affairs committee before being named. Mandelson's
The Foreign Office should not have barred us from asking questions. The government should welcome such scrutiny. Lord Mandelson, according to reform UK Prime Minister Nigel Farage, wasasked to question him ahead of his appointment, according to Emily Thornberry, chair of the committee.
an extraordinarily gifted bloke,but his appointment
I think McSweeney's role is now in question because it is not about the prime minister's advice but also about the role that Morgan McSweeney plays in this administration," he said.was a serious misjudgement from the prime minister.
When he was given the Washington position, Lord Mandelson's connection with Epstein was well known. However, at the start of the week, US senators released documents from Epstein's estate, including 2003 birthday messages from Mandelson, in which he refers to Epstein as
due processmy best pal. Sir Keir expressed confidence in Lord Mandelson's appointment on Wednesday and insisted that
fight for early releasehad been followed in his appointment. However, he sacked his ambassador the next day. It came after the Sun and Bloomberg published a series of emails from Lord Mandelson to Epstein. Mandelson sent supportive emails after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a juvenile in June 2008. Mandelson is reported to have told Epstein to
and,I think the world of you,
The BBC has been told that the information released on Wednesday evening was not available to those in government when Lord Mandelson was appointed, as they came from what has been described as aMandelson said the day before he started his sentence.
long closedemail address. Douglas Alexander said he felt
incredulity and resentmentafter reading the emails, and that he
had not in any way contacted the prime ministerduring the appointment process.
unconventional ambassadorWhen it reached the prime minister's desk, he acted and dismissed the ambassador. Lord Mandelson was first appointed because the UK needed a
to work with Donald Trump'sunorthodox presidential administration," he said. As the US President's state visit to the United Kingdom next week, James Roscoe, deputy head of the Washington embassy, has been named as interim ambassador ahead of the US president's State visit to India next week.
