Sir Keir Starmer had been briefed on details of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein before making him US ambassador, a select committee heard.
The Prime Minister was said to have received a Cabinet Office report referencing the “reputational risks” of appointing Lord Mandelson, which “included his previous resignations as a minister” and “his prior relationships with Jeffrey Epstein”.
“This section included direct extracts from media reporting and notes of a general reputational risk,” Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald told the Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday.
Sir Chris indicated that the judgment about whether to make the appointment rested with the Prime Minister.
Lord Mandelson was sacked a day after the Prime Minister told MPs on 10 September that he retained confidence in him despite concerns over his association with Epstein.
While Lord Mandelson’s ties to Epstein were known when he was appointed, emails later emerged in which he told the paedophile financier to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Lord Mandelson was also reported to have told Epstein “I think the world of you” the day before the sex offender began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
Sir Oliver Robbins, permanent undersecretary at the FCDO, said a “process” had taken place within the Cabinet Office to ensure the PM was aware of Lord Mandelson and the “issues around his appointment”.
“There was then a process of clearing his conflicts of interest, which the employing department oversaw … and actually in parallel with that process we also went through the standard UK national security vetting process for DV [developed vetting].
“So I think the one of those processes where we can confidently say the relationship with Jeffrey Epstein surfaced was one of the first of those processes.”
He added: “We’re not at liberty to say whether it would have come up during the national security vetting process.”
Sir Oliver said Lord Mandelson “did not hold national security vetting when he was appointed, but as is normally the case with external appointments to my department and the wider civil service, the appointment was made subject to obtaining security clearance”.
He said Lord Mandelson did complete a conflict of interest form, but that that did not include “friendships”, as “it’s not a sort of reputational conflict that’s being targeted by that form”.
Sir Chris said this process has been changed since Lord Mandelson was sacked.
He added: “The issue over which Lord Mandelson was withdrawn from Washington was information … that was not available to us at the time that the due diligence was done.”
“There are two issues here. There is the process and, as I say, we believe the process can be improved, and indeed we have improved it. And there is what information was available at the time.”
“Lord Mandelson’s connections with [Epstein] were flagged in the due diligence exercise that the Cabinet Office carried out.”
MPs pressed the Cabinet Office to release the information available to the PM when he told the House of Commons he had confidence in Lord Peter Mandelson ahead of his sacking.
Sir Chris said he will consider the request for further information contained in a due diligence report on the former UK ambassador to the United States.
During the select committee, he was repeatedly pushed to reveal the details contained in a report handed to Sir Keir ahead of Lord Mandelson’s appointment in February, and he was also challenged on the timing of information given to the Prime Minister as the scandal broke.
The Cabinet Secretary declined to expand on the contents of the report, including whether it included a reference to the emails in question, but insisted that all known details were given to the prime minister.
Sir Keir has said it was regrettable that he was not made aware of the new information before he addressed MPs on the matter.
Sir Oliver confirmed the department and Number 10 were aware of the emails ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions on September 10.
Committee chair Emily Thornberry asked Sir Chris to provide the committee with a list of the separate reports on Lord Mandelson’s association with Mr Epstein that were given to the Prime Minister.
In response, he said: “I am happy to take that question away and see whether there were other things we can be shared.”
Sir Oliver confirmed that his department had received a media inquiry from Bloomberg about the emails.
When asked why the Prime Minister was not informed about the emails ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: “We received the material. We asked some questions about that material, which the Prime Minister has commented on in his public remarks.
“I can’t speak to exactly what he saw at what point… but Chris and I were in constant contact about it, and I was briefing the Foreign Secretary.”
