UK

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 “In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes, he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect,” the minister added.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

Lord Mandelson asked Jeffrey Epstein for help vetting an Israeli adviser, despite having claimed he never had a “professional” relationship with the paedophile, it has emerged. Britain’s ambassador to the US messaged the notorious sex offender to ask about a consultant in September 2013, according to reports, five years after he pleaded guilty in Florida to the solicitation of a minor.Leaked emails reveal Epstein forwarded the message to former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak. There have been calls for Lord Mandelson to be sacked (PA) More

Labour’s Mike Tapp accuses Reform’s Zia Yusuf of ‘feeding racism’ in fiery exchangeLord Mandelson reportedly showed support to Jeffrey Epstein and pushed for his early release as he faced child sex offences in further revelations, putting pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to sack Britain’s ambassador to the US after giving him his full backing.Six Labour MPs have condemned the prime minister for standing by Lord Mandelson and some have called for his sacking.In leaked emails seen by The Sun, the Labour grandee wrote to Epstein in June 2008: “Your friends stay with you and love you.” It’s also been claimed that the ambassador brokered a business deal with Epstein after the latter had been convicted of child sex offences. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a challenger for the deputy leadership, became the first Labour MP to call for the ambassador to be removed, saying ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus should investigate him. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who began the calls for Sir Keir to sack Mandelson, said the ambassador was “mired in scandal” and his position was untenable.No 10 has declined to say whether the prime minister aware of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein before appointing him.Labour MPs turn on Starmer – full reportJane Dalton11 September 2025 03:18Starmer says UK will stand by Nato and PolandSir Keir Starmer has told the leaders of Ukraine, Poland and Italy that the UK is “ready to support Nato and Poland to continue to defend the alliance” after Russian drones entered Polish airspace.The Prime Minister spoke to the leaders, along with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, in a call on Wednesday afternoon.A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister began by condemning the outrageous violation of Poland’s airspace. This highlighted Russia’s increased recklessness in recent weeks, including their attacks on the Cabinet of Ministers building, British Council and EU Delegation buildings in Kyiv, he added.”Jane Dalton11 September 2025 02:00Abuse of visa sponsorship for foreign workers risesThe number of licences for companies to sponsor foreign workers that have been revoked has more than doubled in the past year, and ministers are warning employers against “shameful” abuse of the immigration system.Home Office figures show 1,948 sponsors for skilled and temporary workers had their licences cancelled in the year to June 2025, compared to 937 in the previous 12-month-period.The Government is seeking to crack down on rogue employers underpaying and exploiting migrant staff – who are reliant on their visa sponsor to stay in the country – while undercutting British workers.Adult social care, hospitality, retail and construction are among the sectors seeing the highest levels of abuse, according to the Home Office.Licences for companies have been ended for breaking rules including underpaying workers, failing to give them promised work and assisting people to the country to get around immigration rules.Jane Dalton11 September 2025 00:45Minister drops out to back Phillipson in Labour contestLocal government minister Alison McGovern said she had dropped out of the Labour deputy leadership contest to give her supporters time to back one of the remaining candidates.Ms McGovern decided to back Bridget Phillipson, but one of her two publicly declared supporters – St Helens North MP David Baines – has given his support to Lucy Powell.If more than one candidate secures 80 nominations by Thursday evening, they will then need to gain backing from either three of Labour’s affiliate organisations, including two trade unions, or 5% of constituency parties.That process will continue until September 27, meaning a contested election threatens to overshadow the party’s annual conference that begins in Liverpool the next day.Jane Dalton10 September 2025 23:25Phillipson at second stage of Labour deputy leadership raceBridget Phillipson has made it to the next round of Labour’s deputy leadership contest after securing nominations from 116 of the party’s MPs.The Education Secretary became the first candidate to cross the threshold of 80 nominations required to make it to the next stage.Already the frontrunner, Ms Phillipson received a boost on Wednesday afternoon when one of her rivals, fellow minister Alison McGovern, dropped out of the race and pledged to support her.Figures released on Wednesday evening showed Ms Phillipson’s main rival, Lucy Powell, had received 77 nominations, just three short of the required 80 with a day to go before nominations close.It now appears likely that Ms Powell, who was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer as leader of the Commons last week, will reach 80 nominations by the deadline of 5pm on Thursday.Jane Dalton10 September 2025 22:30Israeli president admits ‘arguing’ with Starmer at No 10Israel’s president Isaac Herzog proposed sending a “fact-finding mission” to Gaza during “tough” talks with Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street on Wednesday.In the No 10 meeting, Mr Herzog “argued” with the Prime Minister over UK plans to recognise a Palestinian state and concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.At an event hosted by the Chatham House think tank, Mr Herzog said he had offered “a fact-finding mission coming to Israel, sitting with us and studying the situation in Gaza on the humanitarian level”.Adding that the pair had “argued out of respect”, he noted there were “things we agreed upon”, such as the threat from Iran and the need to end Hamas’s control of Gaza.But he said he dismissed “out of hand” comments by Wes Streeting on Monday in which the Health Secretary had said Mr Herzog needed to answer allegations of war crimes and ethnic cleansing.( More

Sir Keir Starmer has “condemned” Israel’s air strikes in Qatar as “completely unacceptable”, adding they “do nothing to secure peace”, as he met the country’s president Isaac Herzog in Downing Street.Israel killed at least six people, including a member of Qatar’s internal security forces and five Hamas figures after it launched an unprecedented air raid on Doha on Tuesday.The meeting at Number 10 saw Mr Herzog “argue” with the Sir Keir over UK plans to recognise a Palestinian state and concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir had “condemned Israel’s action in Doha yesterday as completely unacceptable. He said the strikes were a flagrant violation of a key partner’s sovereignty and do nothing to secure the peace we all desperately want to see”.”Turning to Gaza, he reiterated his huge concern and implored Israel to change course. They must stop the man-made famine from worsening further by letting aid in and halting their offensive operations, he added.”Sir Keir Starmer met Isaac Herzog at 10 Downing Street (James Manning/PA) More

Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes of a coronation for his chosen successor to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader seem to have been dashed.His candidate for the crucial position, education secretary Bridget Phillipson, became the first to clear a major hurdle to secure the 80 MP nominations needed to get on the ballot paper.With MPs hearing the pitches of the five remaining hopefuls, Ms Phillipson was far ahead with 116 nominations well beyond the 80 needed. However, her chief rival, sacked former minister Lucy Powell was on 77. Ms Powell just needs three more MPs before nominations close at 5pm on Thursday which would put her in a run-off with Ms Phillipson in a vote by members.Education secretary Bridget Phillipson More

The UK will mass produce cutting-edge interceptor drones to help Ukraine fight off Russian aerial attacks.The drones, designed by Ukraine with support from UK scientists and technicians, are highly effective in destroying the one-way attack aircraft Moscow continues to launch at Ukrainian cities, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).It comes after Russian drones violating Polish airspace during overnight attacks on Ukraine were shot down by Poland and Nato.Defence Secretary John Healey will detail the project, the first under a technology-sharing deal with Kyiv, at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) trade show in London on Thursday.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “As Russia continues its egregious and unrelenting attacks on Ukraine, the UK’s support will not falter, and we alongside our allies will continue to step up.“This new partnership is a landmark moment, bringing together British and Ukrainian ingenuity to deliver cutting-edge defence drone technology to fight back against Russian aggression.Starmer said Russia’s Poland airspace breach has ‘united’ Nato More