Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander has said Labour MPs will be feeling “despondent” following a chaotic week which has seen the sacking of Lord Mandelson and the resignation of Angela Rayner. Sir Keir Starmer is facing questions over why he appointed Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US despite his known links to the convicted paedophile Jeffery Epstein. The government said Mandelson was dismissed after new information about the extent of the two men’s friendship came out this week. The prime minister is now in the position of searching for a new ambassador to Washington, just days before the US President Donald Trump arrives for a state visit.Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said: “Many of us were devastated by [deputy PM] Angela Rayner’s departure from the government last week.”She’s an extraordinary woman who’s overcome the most extraordinary challenges and we are grieving and feel quite acutely that sense of loss.”Now to have the dismissal of Peter Mandelson just the next week, I totally get it, of course Labour MPs will be despondent that in two weeks in a row we have seen significant resignations from public service.”These are not the headlines any of us in government or in Parliament would have chosen or wanted. “But the fact is when the evidence emerged, action had to be taken and we are looking forward, therefore, to moving on.”Some Labour MPs have expressed anger at how the situation with Mandelson has been handled. Paula Barker – who dropped out of the deputy Labour leader race on Thursday – said: “The delay in sacking him has only served to further erode the trust and confidence in our government and politics in the round.”Charlotte Nichols said Mandelson’s sacking was “not immediate enough unfortunately, as he should never have been appointed in the first place”.Sadik Al-Hassan said there were “serious questions about the vetting process of the ambassador”. The Conservatives have called for the publication of all vetting material, while the Liberal Democrats have said there should be a review of procedures. Lord Mandelson’s association with Epstein was publicly known when he was given the Washington job.However, at the start of the week, US lawmakers published documents from Epstein’s estate including 2003 birthday messages from Mandelson in which he refers to Epstein as “my best pal”.Sir Keir initially stood by Lord Mandelson and on Wednesday said “due process” had been followed in his appointment.But the following day he decided to sack his ambassador. It came after a series of emails from Lord Mandelson to Epstein were published by the Sun and Bloomberg.The BBC has been told the information published on Wednesday evening was not available to those in government when Lord Mandelson was appointed, as they came from what has been described as a “long closed” email address.Alexander said: “In retrospect, of course, if (it) had been known at the time what is known now, the appointment wouldn’t have been made.”
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Labour MPs despondent, says minister after Mandelson and Rayner chaos
