Markus Andrews

Independent readers have reacted to Sir Keir Starmer’s sacking of Peter Mandelson following revelations about his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.Readers have also weighed in on Starmer’s clarity of judgement over his appointment of Mandelson to the role of US ambassador in the first place.They described Mandelson as a long-time opportunist, accusing him of moral and political bankruptcy. Several also argued that the scandal has exposed broader failings in the Prime Minister’s vetting process and raises questions about the government’s standards.Some praised Mandelson’s swift exit, welcoming Starmer’s decision to act decisively rather than dragging out the controversy. Others said the episode highlights Starmer’s lack of foresight and the risks of appointing controversial figures, warning it could harm Labour’s reputation and electoral prospects.Here’s what you had to say:Mandelson and Epstein friendshipThis was inevitable when it became obvious that Mandelson continued the friendship and messages with Epstein after he was convicted of his crimes.And yet Starmer made a statement saying he had 100% confidence in Mandelson yesterday. The man is losing credibility at an alarming rate. He should never have backed Mandelson when it was clear further revelations and messages were waiting to be revealed.At this rate, he won’t be PM at Christmas. ChrisMatthewsThe ambassador’s role“The Prime Minister now needs to appoint an ambassador who will stand up to Trump, not cosy up to him and his cronies.”No, the ambassador’s role is to represent and further the interests of the government (and the country). But it is the role of the government to decide what those interests are at that point in time, whether to ‘stand up to Trump’, or to appease him, or whatever. The ambassador will then simply do their best to follow through with that implementation. An ambassador should be neither obsequious nor pugnacious. DaveAniAnother U-turn‘…what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I, and you, and all of us fell down…’Shakespeare – Julius Caesar (Mark Antony’s speech).The PM has added another U-turn to his score. I agree that this is for the right reasons, but one wonders about the PM’s judgement. KrispadStarmer must goIt seems that Keir goes from one scandal to another, from bad to worse, and is unable to improve Labour’s respectability. He now must go for the party’s sake. paulThe same happened in Germany several times. Merkel had appointed a number of doubtful characters to her cabinets. Whenever they came under fire, she expressed her full confidence in them. A few days later, they were either sacked or had resigned. What a farce. ontologix2027 electionEd Davey seems to be the only sensible voice here. This whole debacle will cost Labour dearly. Starmer will at best resign and at worst lose all credibility. God forbid we get Farage, but his prediction of a 2027 general election suddenly doesn’t look so unlikely. Not a great future looming. DidoBendigoNew Labour charlatanMandelson enjoyed socialising with the rich, the famous, the infamous. That he was nominally a Labour politician was shocking in itself. Being an intimate advisor to Blair strips away further at that New Labour charlatan.Now his perverted attitude toward a serial abuser has exploded in Starmer’s face. This is a prime minister whose government is ideologically bankrupt. Now we can see his judgement is bankrupt. In light of this scandal, we must also consider to what extent he is morally bankrupt. CriticaleyeInvestigationStarmer and the former foreign secretary should be investigated so that the public can evaluate the standards they did not meet when they made this appointment. Crucially, what information did they ignore and then discount when they said that all due process was followed? orenasStarmer has done the right thing, but too late. That he initially defended Mandelson will be held against him at every opportunity. DMcG3Pointless defenceSo why did Starmer go through that pointless defence of Mandelson during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday? Cyclone8Error of judgementAnother error of judgement from Starmer after backing him yesterday and failing to peer into the dirty closet before appointing him.MedicineDogSwift action It’s good to see people going straight away, not stringing it out for months as in the not-so-distant past. I hope this sends a message to Trump, or at least those who are keeping him in office. XrisLack of judgementThe person showing the most serious lack of judgement in all of this would seem to be the Prime Minister, as many thought at the time that Mandelson’s appointment was a highly questionable decision, and events have now shown that those with reservations were spot-on. MGHOWSome of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.Want to share your views? Simply register your details below. Once registered, you can comment on the day’s top stories for a chance to be featured. Alternatively, click ‘log in’ or ‘register’ in the top right corner to sign in or sign up.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here. More

Eight in 10 Britons believe that senior politicians should be required to publish the amount of tax they pay every year, according to a new poll.A YouGov survey of nearly 5,000 people found that 80 per cent believe politicians should be required to disclose the amount of tax they pay each year, while only 8 per cent said they should not.It comes after Angela Rayner resigned last week as deputy prime minister and housing minister over her failure to pay £40,000 in stamp duty.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has also evaded questions about his tax payments, particularly regarding his wife’s Clacton property, his private company assets, and his earnings from GB News.When approached for comment by The Independent, Mr Farage said he publishes all of his “monthly earnings and company figures” and that there was “no need” to disclose how much tax he pays as well. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has evaded questions about his tax payments More

The Green Party’s new leader claims he has had multiple conversations with Labour MPs about defecting to his party as they become increasingly unhappy with the direction of Sir Keir Starmer’s government.In an interview with The Independent, Zack Polanski said the number of Labour MPs he has spoken to who are dissatisfied with the party was in “double figures”. He added that the Greens would “absolutely” welcome disillusioned MPs, as long as they share the party’s values.Mr Polanski named Labour left-wingers Clive Lewis and Nadia Whittome as “obvious” examples of the MPs he would welcome into the fold.It comes amid growing concern from backbenchers over Sir Keir’s leadership, with his approval rating hitting an all-time low last month.Zack Polanski spoke to The Independent about his plans as leader of the Green Party More

Foreign minister Stephen Doughty had barely got back to his seat after dramatically announcing the sacking of Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US over his ties to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and my WhatsApp inbox was filling up with messages mostly asking variations on one question:“Why does Keir Starmer have such appalling judgment in making his key appointments?”While the now disgraced Labour peer is off into the wilderness (not for the first time in a long career), the chaos he has left behind is enveloping the prime minister.After all, this is the second big resignation in about a week, at a time when Sir Keir’s umpteenth reset in the shape of a major reshuffle was meant to relaunch his government.Only last Friday, he lost his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner – who he appointed as housing secretary – because she had failed to pay £40,000 in stamp duty on her second home.Now, a mere seven days later, he has lost the man he had tasked to look after the most important relationship in Britain’s foreign policy – the ambassador who has to charm and deal with Donald Trump in the White House – over alleged (and what Downing Street is insisting is) “new information” over his relationship with Epstein.Lord Mandelson’s sacking is the latest scandal to hit Sir Keir Starmer’s government More

Government says Peter Mandelson sacked ‘in light of new emails’ over relationship with Jeffrey EpsteinSir Keir Starmer has sensationally sacked Peter Mandelson as US ambassador over the growing scandal of his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The prime minister asked Lord Mandelson to step down after a string of shocking revelations, including resurfaced emails appearing to show him offering support for convicted paedophile Epstein as he was facing charges of child sex offences. Starmer found Lord Mandelson’s emails to Jeffrey Epstein “reprehensible”, Downing Street has said.Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty, announcing that Lord Mandelson had been sacked, claimed that the emails showed “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” as UK ambassador to the UK last year. “In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes, he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect,” the minister added. Mr Doughty had been called to address the Commons after Sir Lindsay Hoyle granted an urgent question to Tory Neil O’Brien about Lord Mandelson’s appointment. MPs on both sides of the house had been demanding that Lord Mandelson return to the UK for questioning despite his status as a Lord meaning he does not have to stand in front of the Commons. James Roscoe has taken over from Lord Mandelson as interim ambassador while Downing Street begins the process of finding a permanent replacement.Mandelson-Epstein emails made me very uncomfortable, says SarwarScottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said emails between Lord Peter Mandelson and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein made him “very, very uncomfortable”, as he backed the peer’s sacking as US ambassador.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,” he said.“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.”Asked if the decision suggests issues with the Prime Minister’s judgment, Mr Sarwar drew parallels with the previous Tory administration in the UK.“If you compare it to the years under the Conservatives, it was dither, delay, not even referring to the Standards Commissioner, often defending the indefensible,” he said.“(The Prime Minster has) actually taken swift action, there was swift action in terms of the resignation of (former deputy prime minister) Angela Rayner and the swift action in terms of the removal of Peter Mandelson as the ambassador to the US.”The Scottish Labour leader spoke out on Thursday (Andrew Milligan/PA) More

Peter Mandelson has been sacked as Britain’s ambassador to the US following new revelations about his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – meaning Sir Keir Starmer is now scrambling to fill the position. The appointment is at the centre of the UK-US relationship and will help shape interactions between the two administrations in the years to come, with the future of Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East and trade tariffs among the key areas of discussion. The UK’s next man or woman in Washington will need all the political and diplomatic nous they can muster. Here we look at the runners and riders.James RoscoeJames Roscoe has taken over from Lord Mandelson as interim ambassador while Downing Street begins the process of finding a permanent replacement. While there is no suggestion yet that Mr Roscoe will hold the position permanently, the career diplomat has a strong CV. He is currently the embassy’s head of mission, a role which sees him take over in the absence of the ambassador. He was previously deputy head of mission at the British embassy in Washington in July 2022.Before moving to 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.George Osborne George Osborne is said to have been on Downing Street’s shortlist to be the next UK ambassador to Washington, despite the former Tory chancellor being disliked by many in the Labour Party for his role as the architect of austerity in Britain. Tom Baldwin, in his biography of the prime minister, wrote that senior No 10 aides “invested considerable effort” in unsuccessfully pushing for Mr Osborne to be considered. Former chancellor George Osborne known as the architect of austerity in the UK More

Peter Mandelson has been dramatically sacked from his role as UK ambassador to the US following mounting pressure over his newly revealed links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. It comes after it was revealed that Lord Mandelson had maintained ties with Epstein after the disgraced former banker was jailed for a child sex offence.Responding to an urgent question in the House of Commons, foreign minister Stephen Doughty said Lord Mandelson had been sacked after leaked emails showed that his relationship with Epstein, who died in 2019, was “materially different from that known at the time of his appointment” as UK ambassador to the US last year.The Tories said it showed an “extraordinary error of judgement by this prime minister” and that it raised “massive questions” about what he knew about the pair’s relationship and when.Announcing Lord Mandelson’s sacking, Mr Doughty said: “In light of additional information in the emails written by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador to the United States.The prime minister initially said he had ‘confidence’ in Peter Mandelson More