Mandelson ‘economical with the truth’ over ties to Epstein

Lord Peter Mandelson was “economical” with the truth about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein before being appointed ambassador to Washington, Downing Street sources have said.

The Labour grandee was sacked on Thursday after emails were published showing Lord Mandelson sent supportive messages even as Epstein faced jail for sex offences.

The Prime Minister is facing questions over what he knew about the peer’s friendship with the paedophile financier and the vetting process for his diplomatic posting.

Ahead of Lord Mandelson’s appointment, the Prime Minister was given a file that included information about his links to Epstein by the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team and prepared three questions based on it, the PA news agency understands.

They included why he continued contact with Epstein after he was convicted and why he was reported to have stayed in one of the paedophile financier’s homes while he was in prison.

The BBC reported it understands Lord Mandelson believes he was truthful about his association with Epstein and that he told No 10 he had not stayed at his apartment while he was in prison in 2009.

But No 10 sources said Lord Mandelson was “economical with the truth” in his answers to those questions.

Another vetting process carried out by the Foreign Office followed.

Kemi Badenoch earlier accused the Prime Minister of lying about what he knew regarding Lord Mandelson’s emails.

The Conservative Party leader said Sir Keir Starmer has “very serious questions to answer” and called for “full transparency”.

She was referring to reporting that Downing Street was aware of the emails on Tuesday, two days before Lord Mandelson was removed from his post and a day before Sir Keir backed him at Prime Minister’s Questions.

The Prime Minister is understood not to have been aware of the contents of the emails until Wednesday evening – after he told the Commons he had “confidence” in Lord Mandelson.

But the Foreign Office received a media inquiry outlining details of the messages on Tuesday, which was passed to No 10.

A Government source said Sir Oliver Robbins, the permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, asked Lord Mandelson about the emails and did not hear back until Wednesday afternoon.

The decision to sack Lord Mandelson with immediate effect was taken on Thursday morning and announced shortly afterwards.

The emails were sent from an account which had long been closed and were not available during the vetting process.

Dame Emily Thornberry, chairwoman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has demanded answers from the Foreign Secretary on the department’s “developed vetting” process.

His friendship with Epstein was known before his appointment, but reports in The Sun and Bloomberg showed their relationship continued after the financier’s crimes had emerged.

Emails published on Wednesday included passages in which Lord Mandelson told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

He is also reported to have told Epstein, “I think the world of you”, the day before the disgraced financier began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.

The scandal has put pressure on Sir Keir, coming within a week of Angela Rayner’s departure and the ensuing Cabinet reshuffle.