Sir Keir Starmer and his allies always knew the dangers of appointing Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US.In autumn last year, when Downing Street were mulling over who to send to Washington, the Labour peer’s friendship with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – and the fact that it carried on after the billionaire was convicted – was part of the PM’s calculation.”The Epstein stuff in broad terms was definitely known and discussed in detail before his appointment,” said one source.Another insider said that as part of the Foreign Office vetting process Lord Mandelson was “specifically asked about the association with Epstein” and he was “clear about it”.No 10 argued today that the “depth and extent” of that relationship was “materially different” from what was known last year.But back then, pictures of Epstein and Mandelson trying on belts in a clothes shop, and blowing out candles on a birthday cake were in the public domain.News reports before Lord Mandelson’s appointment showed contact between the pair even after Epstein’s conviction for the sexual abuse of underage girls.At the time, we raised these facts in conversations with government officials.The responses demonstrated the conflicted attitude many in Labour clearly felt towards a party grandee they saw as both a masterful political operator and a deeply flawed man.One party insider sighed and spoke of Lord Mandelson’s fascination with power and money.A longtime friend of the peer told me: “Peter has weaknesses. He likes the high life. A lifestyle he can’t afford.”And yet the calculation Keir Starmer made, alongside his top foreign affairs adviser Jonathan Powell and his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, was that Mandelson’s talents outweighed the risks.Allies of the outgoing ambassador still suggest it was probably the right decision considering what the PM knew last autumn.”If you look at his success in the role, the reasons for appointing him were vindicated,” said a friend of the peer. “He’s been good on trade and built a strong relationship with the White House. He’s been exemplary.”Former President George W Bush nicknamed Mandelson “Silvertongue”. The peer knows Peter Thiel, the right-wing billionaire backer of vice president JD Vance, has met Elon Musk, and holidayed with Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.Part of the irony of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein is that he shares that very same link with President Trump – proof of a top level if murky network among US elites.After four decades in politics, Lord Mandelson’s career in public life now seems sure to be over.But questions about the prime minister’s judgement remain.Last autumn, Sir Keir decided that being friends with a convicted paedophile in the past should not exclude someone from high public office.This week the volume, scale and excruciating details of the pair’s contacts, plus the revelation that the peer encouraged the paedophile to challenge his conviction changed the PMs view.Many Labour MPs think their leader should have seen this scandal a mile off.
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Why did Starmer take the risk of appointing Peter Mandelson?
