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The Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his former Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney rushed through the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US, despite being warned of “concerns” about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and Russia, newly released documents reveal.
A due diligence report prepared for the UK Prime Minister, prior to Mandelson’s appointment, warned of a “general reputational risk” in appointing Mandelson due to his ongoing relationship with the late convicted paedophile, which continued after his conviction.
The files reveal details of Mandelson’s long-time friendship with Epstein and include emails in which he pushes for former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to meet with him, insisting that “he [Epstein] is safe”.
As well as his personal relationship with the late paedophile, the report highlighted that Mandelson had “agreed to be a ‘founding citizen’ of an ocean conservation group founded by Ghislaine Maxwell, and funded by Epstein.”
The assessment, by the Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Ethics Team, also highlighted his previous financial ties to Russia, which continued “long after” Putin’s annexation of Crimea.
The documents, which were published following a vote by MPs, reveal that the Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell had “raised concerns” about Mandelson’s appointment directly to McSweeney, saying that it was being “weirdly rushed”.
However, they note that “MM [Morgan McSweemey] responded that the issues had been addressed” and that McSweeney was “satisfied” with the responses of his friend and long term associate.
Despite these concerns being raised to McSweeney about the appointment, Starmer’s Principal Private Secretary Ninjeri Pandit told officials that the appointment should be pushed through “at pace”.
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Mandelson’s Russian links were also highlighted by officials, with Starmer being told that he had “served as a non-executive director of the Russian conglomerate Sistema until June 2017.
“Sistema held a majority stake in RTI, a defense technology firm producing radar systems for Russia’s missile early warning system” the due diligence report highlighted.
Mandelson’s business interests in the lobbying company General Counsel were also raised by officials, due to concerns about potential conflicts of interests due to the company’s involvement in US finance and politics.
“Reputational risks could occur relating to any of these clients’ dealings with the UK or USA government”, Starmer was told.
The documents are the first tranche set to be released by the Government.
Key details have been withheld due to an ongoing criminal investigation into Mandelson by the Metropolitan Police.
The former ambassador was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office following allegations revealed in the Epstein files that he passed on confidential and financially sensitive information to Epstein, whilst in Government.
The documents reveal Mandelson was paid a £75,000 severance payment, after initially demanding more than half a million pounds from the Foreign Office.
Following publication of the 200 pages of files, the Government announced that it was asking its Ethics and Integrity Commission to conduct a review of the UK’s lobbying rules
Phil Brickell MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax and former Anti-Bribery and Corruption professional told Byline Times that:”Today’s announcement is a hugely welcome step from the Prime Minister. I’m pleased to see the government moving in the right direction on driving up standards in public life.”
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