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By JAMIE BULLEN, LIVE COVERAGE EDITOR
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Lord Peter Mandelson has been withdrawn as ambassador to the US after emails revealed the depth of his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Sir Keir Starmer, who picked the Labour grandee to be the UK’s representative in Washington, made the decision after emails showed the peer sent supportive messages even as Epstein faced jail for sex offences.
The Foreign Office said the emails showed “the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment”.
He has now been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.
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Thanks for following our live coverage after Lord Peter Mandelson was sacked as the UK ambassador to the US following the disclosure of emails he exchanged with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Prime Minister had come under mounting criticism to dismiss the former Labour peer and took action today after 'reprehensible' messages from Mandelson.
In recently disclosed emails, the 71-year-old suggested Epstein’s first conviction for solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18 was wrongful and should be challenged.
According to Downing Street, it was 'new information' and resulted in Lord Mandelson's withdrawl from Washington following his appointment in December.
The episode has caused considerable damage to the Prime Minister in the week after losing his deputy Angela Rayner and comes ahead of Donald Trump's state visit. Trump has also been questioned over his association with Epstein.
Although this live page is closing, you can keep up to date with all the news and analysis on the Daily Mail website.
Here's our main story of the day:
by Dan Hodges, Daily Mail columnist
So, what changed?
Twenty-four hours ago, Keir Starmer stood at the House of Commons Despatch Box and sternly insisted, ‘The ambassador has repeatedly expressed his deep regret for his association with Epstein, and he is right to do so.
‘I have confidence in him and he is playing an important role in the UK-US relationship.’
For the best part of a day, as revelation after new revelation exposed the sordid nature of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – and its potentially devastating impact on relations with Washington – Keir Starmer stood by his man.
Minsters were dispatched to tell the nation nothing had changed. Mandelson had expressed sufficient contrition and would be remaining in his post.
Read the full column by Dan Hodges below:
Analysis: Epstein's shadow hangs over special relationship ahead of Trump visit
When Donald Trump dines with the King and Prime Minister during his state banquet next week, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein will be the ghost at the feast.
The White House, the royal family and Sir Keir Starmer’s Government have all been tarnished by association with the sex offender, with the sacking of Lord Peter Mandelson the latest stage in the saga.
Mr Trump continues to deny being the author of a sexually suggestive letter in Epstein’s 50th birthday book in 2003, while the Duke of York – the King’s brother – was forced away from his public role in 2019 amid the furore over his friendship with the convicted billionaire paedophile.
Just days before the state visit brings Mr Trump, Sir Keir and the King together, the Prime Minister sacked his ambassador to the US after the emergence of emails showing the full extent of his relationship with Epstein.
Sir Keir had insisted at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday that “full due process” was gone through in relation to Lord Mandelson’s appointment and “I have confidence in the ambassador in the role he is doing”.
But the disclosure of emails between Lord Mandelson and Epstein from 2005 to 2010 – including after his conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution – changed Sir Keir’s thinking.
The suggestion that he believed Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged was “new information”, the Foreign Office and No 10 said.
But Lord Mandelson’s links with Epstein were widely known before Sir Keir took the unusual step of appointing a prominent political figure – rather than a career diplomat – to the Washington post.
The risks of appointing a politician who is no stranger to scandal were obvious and Sir Keir is now paying a political price for the gamble.
Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.But six years later his shadow still hangs over the special relationship between the UK and US.
Anas Sarwar - Mandelson-Epstein emails made me 'very uncomfortable'
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said emails between Lord Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein made him 'very, very uncomfortable', as he backed the peer’s sacking as US ambassador.
The Prime Minister requested Lord Mandelson’s removal on Thursday morning after the emails were leaked.
The Foreign Office said the emails show the depth of the relationship between the two men was 'materially different from that known at the time of his appointment'.
Speaking to journalists in Holyrood, Mr Sarwar said the Prime Minister had made the right decision.
The details that came to light were deeply, deeply concerning, they made me feel very uncomfortable
I think there’s legitimate questions that the public will want answers to and I think, ultimately, the Prime Minister has made the right decision.
by Quentin Letts
Third time lucky, goes the proverb.
Peter Mandelson has been re-toppled. This most vivid of political butterflies has previously, twice, escaped his critics’ nets; this time it could be the end.
His involvement with Jeffrey Epstein repeated a pattern: fluttering too close to money. In 1998 Mandelson resigned as Trade and Industry Secretary after accepting an undeclared house loan from multi-millionaire MP Geoffrey Robinson.
In 2001 he quit as Northern Ireland Secretary after helping Indian billionaire Srichand Hinduja’s application for a British passport. This time the stonkingly rich ‘best pal’ was Epstein, a paedophile.
What lured Mandelson to such a slug? Imaginations will run wild but the basic draw does not seem to have been sex. It was connections.
Read the full sketch by Quentin Letts here:
Lord Mandelson apparently found time while an EU Commissioner to join forces with a mysterious ‘Mr Big’ to fight for sex child predator Jeffrey Epstein as the FBI closed in, new emails reveal.
The Labour grandee once known as the Prince of Darkness appears to have worked behind the scenes with his ‘best pal’ paedophile to save him from looming charges of molesting teenagers.
In a fresh cache of devastating emails overnight, the now-ex British ambassador to Washington wrote to Epstein in 2006, ‘What’s cooking?’ after Florida police decided to charge him with four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of lewd and lascivious molestation. Mandelson added: ‘Here whenever you need.’
The latest emails, obtained by Bloomberg, reveal that Mandelson’s jaw-dropping ‘I think the world of you…you must fight for early release’ email was sent to the convicted paedophile on the day before he reported to prison to start his 18-month sentence.
Epstein also seemed to think his friend could pull strings, as EU Trade Commissioner, to fix him a pardon.
MPs demand to question Peter Mandelson over Jeffrey Epstein relationship
MPs have called for Peter Mandelson to be questioned in Parliament over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Home Office minister Mike Tapp told Sky News it's 'important we have full answers' on the pair's association.
When asked if Mandelson should be summoned to face questions of parliamentary committees, Mr Tapp said:
What is important to me, and I'm really clear on this, is we do have the full answers on this. But Sir Keir Starmer has been clear yesterday in the House that all of the answers are there.
Labour MP Emily Thornberry added her Foreign Affairs Committee had been stopped from asking questions of Mandelson at the time of his appointment.
POLL: Should Lord Mandelson face an inquiry over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein?
Lord Mandelson has been withdrawn as Britain's ambassador to the US after emails revealed the depth of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Sir Keir Starmer, who picked the Labour grandee to be the UK's representative in Washington, made the decision after emails showed the peer sent supportive messages even as the paedophile financier faced jail for sex offences.
The Foreign Office said the emails showed 'the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment'.
Lord Mandelson is reported to have told Epstein to 'fight for early release' shortly before he was jailed for 18 months, and told him, 'I think the world of you' the day before he began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
The Prime Minister had defended Lord Mandelson until the emergence of the emails, insisting he had gone through a proper vetting process and had helped build a successful relationship with Donald Trump's White House.
Starmer facing questions over judgment as he fights latest crisis
It is just six days since Sir Keir conducted a panicky reshuffle triggered by Angela Rayner resigning over her tax affairs - amid claims the premier is 'lurching from crisis to crisis'.
Sir Keir now faces mounting questions about his judgment, with even Labour MPs warning the party is 'stained at the very top'.
Bloomberg News said details of the newly-uncovered emails had been sent to Lord Mandelson for comment on Monday - but the premier continued to voice 'full confidence' in him at PMQs yesterday.
Sources insisted the messages had not even been available to the peer himself when he was appointed last year, as they were in an old account. As a result they were not considered in vetting.
The decision was taken at a summit between Sir Keir and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper at around 10am, where they agreed the position was 'untenable'
by Chris Pollard
A secret memo in which Lord Mandelson urged then-prime minister Sir Tony Blair to meet Jeffrey Epstein has been kept under wraps by officials, it's claimed.
The note, believed to have been written in May 2002 when Mandelson was a Labour backbencher, supposedly advised Blair that a meeting with the financier would be 'safe' and useful given his network of business contacts.
Blair's aides were shown the message and passed it to the prime minister, though it is not known if any meeting took place.
Under the 20-year rule, the document and a civil service summary were due to be released this summer by the National Archives. Instead, it's claimed, they were pulled at the last minute.
Read more here:
Downing Street tight-lipped over whether Lord Mandelson misled vetting process
Downing Street would not say whether Lord Mandelson had misled the vetting process for his appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the US.
Sir Keir Starmer has confidence in the 'extensive' vetting process, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said.
Asked if the Prime Minister felt Lord Mandelson had misled him, the spokesman referred back to the statement announcing his sacking, which notes that the 'depth and extent of the relationship with is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment' and said that is the 'relevant factor'.
Starmer found Lord Mandelson's emails 'reprehensible'
Sir Keir Starmer and Lord Mandelson pictured in February
Sir Keir Starmer found Lord Mandelson’s emails to Jeffrey Epstein 'reprehensible', Downing Street has said.
Asked if the Prime Minister shared the view of two ministers who have said they were disgusted and sickened by the messages, Sir Keir’s spokesman said:
I think it’s self-evident that he found the content of these emails reprehensible.
Asked what aspect Sir Keir found reprehensible, he said the depth and extent of the relationship shown in the emails was 'new information'.
And they show that Peter Mandelson suggested, that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful, should be challenged, and it’s in light of that and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes – that is why he’s been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.
What next for Peter Mandelson?
As Peter Mandelson leaves his post in Washington, questions have turned about whether he will continue to serve as a Labour peer.
In the Commons earlier today, Paul Holmes, the Conservative MP for Hamble Valley, asked: 'Will this Government remove the whip from him in the House of Lords, yes or no?'
He added: 'The whole House can see that the Prime Minister has an issue when it comes to judgment, and only acting when he’s pushed by events in this House.'
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty replied: 'On the question about the whip, as an FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) employee, Lord Mandelson was on a leave of absence from the other place, so that’s very clear.'
Interim replacement appointed
Downing Street has announced James Roscoe has been appointed the interim UK ambassador to the United States following the sacking of Peter Mandelson.
Roscoe assumes the role with immediate effect.
Previously serving as the UK ambassador to the UN, Roscoe was appointed the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Washington three years ago.
He has also worked as the director of communications at the Cabinet Office.
by Guy Adams for the Daily Mail
Towards the end of August 2019, a dossier containing previously unpublished images of Jeffrey Epstein landed on my desk.
Taken by a woman drawn into Epstein's orbit during the early 2000s, they shed remarkable light on the financier's existence prior to his conviction for child sex offences in 2008.
We had shots of Jeffrey riding quad bikes on his private island, playing tennis with bikini-clad opponents on his personal court, and cavorting with Ghislaine Maxwell and various scantily-clad companions on a sun-dappled tropical veranda.
There were photos of girls relaxing at his ranch in New Mexico, swimming in his pools and walking on his white-sand beaches.
Read the full piece below:
The bombshell emails that blew open Mandelson and Epstein's relationship
Lord Mandelson referred to Jeffrey Epstein as his 'best pal' just before the twisted financier was convicted for preying on children in 2008 and added 'everything can be turned into an opportunity,', bombshell emails revealed this week.
The Labour peer – who sent Epstein photos of himself topless in a toe-curling birthday greeting in 2003 – suggested his legal troubles 'just could not happen in Britain'.
And he told the billionaire - found dead in his cell in 2019 awaiting trial for molesting hundreds of schoolgirls - that 'I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened.'
The emails, details of which also appeared in The Sun and were said to have been 'circulating in Washington DC', were sent in June 2008.
Mandelson – or 'Petie' as Epstein affectionately called him – wrote: 'I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened.'
The previous month, Epstein had been given an ultimatum by prosecutors to finalise a plea deal or face potentially decades in jail. On June 30, he admitted in a Florida court two counts of soliciting children for sex, and was later sentenced to 18 months.
Lord Mandelson, who flew on Epstein's private jet – dubbed the 'Lolita Express' – and stayed at his Caribbean hideaway known as 'orgy island' claimed Epstein had never offered 'any introductions to women... perhaps because I am a gay man'.
Badenoch accuses Starmer of being 'weak' over Mandelson scandal
Kemi Badenoch said Keir Starmer had failed a test of leadership after he sacked Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
The leader of the Conservative Party said in a statement:
Peter Mandelson is now gone, but Keir Starmer failed yet another key test of leadership. I asked him about Peter Mandelson’s links to the notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein six times at Prime Minister’s Questions. And six times he could not provide any answers.
She continued
He gave his full backing to a man unfit for office. This matters for you. Because the Prime Minister has been distracted from the serious national security and economic challenges our country is facing. He is a weak Prime Minister, who doesn’t have the courage to do the right thing at the right time.
Starmer challenged to face MPs to explain Mandelson appointment
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has challenged Keir Starmer to explain to MPs why Peter Mandelson was appointed Britain's ambassador to the US in December.
Sir Ed has also called on Lord Mandelson's successor to be someone capable of 'standing up' to Donald Trump
In a statement he said:
The Prime Minister now needs to appoint an ambassador who will stand up to Trump, not cosy up to him and his cronies.
He also needs to come before Parliament and explain why Lord Mandelson was appointed in the first place, given everything the Government knew then.
This Government seems to be lurching from one crisis to another. It desperately needs to get a grip on fixing the economy and public services so badly damaged by the Conservatives.
Starmer facing headache as Trump heads to Britain
The timing of Lord Mandelson's sacking threatens to cause a diplomatic headache ahead of Donald Trump’s state visit next week.
The US president is facing questions over his own ties with Jeffrey Epstein and has not taken kindly to questions posed by journalists in the US, often dismissing questions about Epstein as a 'hoax'.
Lord Mandelson has served as a key link between Keir Starmer and Donald Trump during a crucial time for US-UK diplomacy and featured prominently when Starmer visited the White House in February.
The 71-year-old was set to play a significant part in next week's state visit by Mr Trump, including as a VIP guest at the white-tie state banquet being held in St George's Hall in Windsor Castle.
Foreign Office statement on Peter Mandelson in full
Here's the full statement from the Foreign Office following the dismissal of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador
In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the Prime Minister has asked the Foreign Secretary to withdraw him as ambassador.
The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.
In particular Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information.
In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.
Why Keir Starmer sacked Peter Mandelson
Under pressure from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQs this week, Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly said he had 'confidence' in Britain's man in Washington, Peter Mandelson.
But it appeared more damaging revelations could soon be disclosed after the ambassador gave a mea culpa himself expressing 'deep regret' over his association with Jeffrey Epstein
Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein was already known about but emails published by Bloomberg and The Sun showed the men's relationship continued after the crimes committed by the financier had emerged.
Lord Mandelson is reported to have told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and told him, “I think the world of you” the day before he began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
This 'new information' plus growing anger on the Labour benches has forced the Prime Minister to act this morning.
Watch: Moment MPs told Peter Mandelson is sacked
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty revealed Mandelson's dismissal in the Commons earlier today.
Addressing MPs, he said newly released emails showed 'the depth and extent of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment'.
In particular, Lord Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information.
And in light of that, and mindful, as we all are, of the victims of Epstein’s appalling crimes, he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.
Watch the moment in the Commons below:
Peter Mandelson sacked as US ambassador
Hello and welcome to the Daily Mail's live coverage as Peter Mandelson is sacked as Britain's ambassdor to the US.
The former Labour MP has been dismissed following the emergence of new emails revealing the depth of his friendship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Sir Keir Starmer was under increasing pressure to take action from his own MPs after Mandelson gave an interview expressing his 'deep regret' over his relationship with Epstein.
His departure was confirmed in the Commons this morning following an urgent question granted by the Conservatives.
Stick with us for the latest reaction and developments in Westminster.
