Sir Keir Starmer knew of the risks that Peter Mandelson’s relationship with “toxic, hot potato” Jeffrey Epstein could have, and proceeded with the peer’s appointment as US ambassador, the former top civil servant at the Foreign Office has said.
Sir Philip Barton also told the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) that there was not a “dismissive” attitude towards getting Lord Mandelson high-level security clearance for the role, but said No 10 was “uninterested” about the developed vetting (DV) process, and wanted it done before Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The former senior civil servant, who stood down as permanent under-secretary to the Foreign Office in January 2025, gave evidence to the influential cross-party committee of MPs ahead of a critical day for the Prime Minister in Parliament over the scandal around Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
Sir Keir has urged Labour backbenchers to “stand together” against the motion to refer him to the Privileges Committee over claims he misled the Commons about the way the former US ambassador’s appointment was handled.
Sir Philip told the committee there was no substance to allegations the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney had sworn at him while urging for the process of appointing Lord Mandelson to move faster.
He also told MPs the “normal order” for ambassadorial appointments was for vetting to be completed before an announcement, contradicting claims by the Government.
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