Markus Andrews

Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney is facing growing pressure over reports he personally pushed for Peter Mandelson’s appointment, despite concerns over his links with Jeffrey Epstein.Britain’s ambassador to the US was dramatically sacked on Thursday amid new revelations about his relationship with the convicted paedophile – raising serious questions about the prime minister’s judgement. While Mr McSweeney was said to have been in favour of the Labour grandee’s appointment, sources told The Telegraph that former chief of staff Sue Gray – who was later forced out – did not consider him to be appropriate for the position. Downing Street sources also firmly denied reports that Mr McSweeney tried to prevent Lord Mandelson’s sacking this week, which took place after Sir Keir came out and defended the ambassador in the Commons. It comes as serious concerns were raised that the Labour grandee did not clear security vetting for the role – but the prime minister pushed through his appointment anyway.Sources have told The Independent that MI6 failed to clear the Labour peer largely because of concerns over his business links to China.Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney was said to have been in favour of the Labour grandee’s appointment More

Serious concerns have been raised that newly sacked US ambassador Peter Mandelson did not clear security vetting for the role – but the prime minister pushed through his appointment anyway.Sources have told The Independent that MI6 failed to clear the Labour peer largely because of concerns over his business links to China.However, there were also worries that his past links to the disgraced financier and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein “would compromise him”.The row has broken out as Sir Keir Starmer faces serious questions about his judgement from his political opponents, but also from Labour MPs after Lord Mandelson became the latest high-profile sacking by the prime minister over issues that should have been detected earlier. When The Independent put the claims that Sir Keir had pushed through Lord Mandelson’s appointment despite not clearing MI6 vetting, a spokesperson said: “Vetting done by FCDO in normal way.”Lord Mandelson admitted in his vetting interview for the role of US ambassador that he had continued his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein for many years, according to reports.Lord Mandelson relayed his regrets in his resignation letter to the UK Embassy: “The circumstances surrounding the announcement today are ones which I deeply regret. I continue to feel utterly awful about my association with Epstein 20 years ago and the plight of his victims.” James Roscoe has taken over as interim ambassador while Downing Street finds a replacement.Keir Starmer said he found Peter Mandelson’s emails to Jeffrey Epstein ‘reprehensible’ More

Yvette Cooper found her move to the Foreign Office in Sir Keir Starmer’s reshuffle “frustrating”, her husband Ed Balls has revealed.It comes on the eve of her first visit to Kyiv in her new Cabinet role.Cooper was replaced as Home Secretary by Shabana Mahmood and took over as Foreign Secretary from David Lammy as part of the Prime Minister’s major shake-up last week in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation.Mr Balls, Ms Cooper’s husband, said that while she was “excited” about her new position, she was frustrated to have been shifted out of the Home Office just as she was making headway on tackling migration.Speaking on the Political Currency podcast he co-hosts, Mr Balls said: “How could you not be excited by the idea of being the Foreign Secretary?“But it’s obviously frustrating when you’ve spent years getting to the point where you had a plan to turn this round in terms of migration – and whether that’s around deportations or getting other departments to pull their weight in terms of housing asylum seekers, turning around the appeals system, getting the France deal in place, the Germany deal coming through, third country relations, which are in the pipeline – all to get to the point where you could actually really put the squeeze on.“And suddenly to find that you have to have a new Home Secretary starting from scratch all over again, and you’ve gone to the Foreign Office, I mean, of course it’s frustrating.”Mr Balls, a former Labour Cabinet minister, criticised Sir Keir’s reshuffle for making the government appear “chaotic”.“We’ve seen a lot of reshuffles in recent years,” the politician-turned-broadcaster said.“Keir Starmer said, you know, he’s going to put all of that chaos – Tory chaos – behind him. This is going to be a government of stability and delivery for the long-term.Yvette Cooper was moved from the Home Office to her new role as Foreign Secretary More

The race to succeed Angela Rayner as deputy leader of the Labour Party has become a head-to-head battle between education secretary Bridget Phillipson and former Commons leader Lucy Powell. The first stage of the contest drew to a close on Thursday evening, with Ms Phillipson and Ms Powell being the only two candidates reaching the required threshold of 80 nominations from fellow Labour MPs. Ms Phillipson became the first to reach the required number of nominations, on Wednesday night sitting ahead with 116 nominations. All the candidates who stood for the deputy Labour leadership (clockwise from top left) Bridget Phillipson, Dame Emily Thornberry, Lucy Powell, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Paula Barker and Alison McGovern More

After the dramatic sacking of Peter Mandelson following revelations about his links with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, James Roscoe has been drafted in to take over as Britain’s interim ambassador to the US while Downing Street begins the process of finding a permanent replacement.While there is no suggestion yet that Mr Roscoe will take over from Lord Mandelson permanently, the career diplomat has a strong CV. He is currently the embassy’s head of mission, a role that sees him take over in the absence of the ambassador. Before he arrived in Washington, he was the UK ambassador to the UN General Assembly from 2019. Prior to this, from 2016 to 2019, he held the roles of director for communication at the Cabinet Office and subsequently the Department for Exiting the European Union.James Roscoe and Clemency Burton-Hill More

Nigel Farage is facing mounting questions about his £885,000 constituency home after an investigation called into question how the property was paid for. The Reform UK leader has denied avoiding more than £44,000 of stamp duty on the four-bedroom house in Clacton, which includes a heated swimming pool, after it emerged it had in fact been purchased by his partner. Mr Farage said his partner, Laure Ferrari, had paid for the home with her own funds, and was able to do so as she comes from a wealthy French family. But a BBC investigation cast doubt on the claim, suggesting that her parents do not have the means to have made a significant contribution towards the purchase. If Mr Farage had given Ms Ferrari the money to purchase the house, he would not have done anything illegal. But it would raise questions of hypocrisy, given that the Reform leader criticised Angela Rayner for her own failure to pay enough stamp duty when purchasing a flat in Hove – something she eventually resigned over. Farage says his partner, Laure Ferrari, was able to purchase the Clacton home as she comes from a wealthy French family More