PETER Mandelson has been fired as US ambassador amid a deepening scandal into his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Sir Keir Starmer has sacked the Labour peer with immediate effect after emails showed him calling the late paedophile his “best pal”.
Peter Mandelson has been sacked as US ambassadorAP
It is the third time Lord Mandelson has been booted from government having twice been forced to resign under PM Tony Blair.
Only yesterday Sir Keir insisted he retained “full confidence” in him, and this morning ministers said the PM was standing by him.
Lord Mandelson had come under intense pressure after evidence passed to a US Congress committee exposed the details of his friendship with Epstein.
Calls for his sacking intensified after The Sun revealed bombshell emails of the peer coaching the late disgraced financier through his conviction for soliciting prostitution.
Lord Mandelson told our Harry Cole Saves The West that he “deeply regretted” any association with the paedophile and said he felt conned by him.
A Foreign Office statement said: “In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the Prime Minister has asked the Foreign Secretary to withdraw him as Ambassador.
“The emails show 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.
“In particular Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information.
“In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes he has been withdrawn as Ambassador with immediate effect.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Mandelson might have gone but, just as with Angela Rayner, Starmer dithered when he needed to be decisive.
“Time and again he puts party above country. He has no backbone and no convictions. There are now serious questions over what Starmer knew and when. We deserve to know.”
Yesterday Labour MPs broke ranks demanding the party grandee be removed from post after he described paedophile financier as his “best pal”.
Calls for his departure came as a picture emerged from a 2002 holiday on Epstein’s private island showing Mandelson dressed in just a bathrobe.
The Prime Minister insisted that “due process was followed” when he was appointed at the end of last year.
But Downing Street later repeatedly avoided giving a straight answer on how much the PM knew about his close links to Epstein – insisting that “extensive vetting” had taken place.
Mandelson’s words to Epstein can be read in a birthday book from 2003 which was compiled by British convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
He also called Epstein “mysterious” and “intelligent, sharp-witted man”.
It was published by the US Congress following a request for documents to the Epstein estate.
Peter’s Past Scandals
PETER Mandelson, one of the most influential figures in New Labour’s rise to power, was forced to resign from the Cabinet not once but twice during his career.
His first dismissal came on 23 December 1998, when he stepped down as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
The scandal centred on a secret loan of £373,000 that he had received from fellow Labour minister Geoffrey Robinson to buy a house.
The loan had not been declared in the Register of Members’ Interests, raising questions about transparency and propriety.
Although there was no evidence of wrongdoing in terms of policy decisions, the controversy became politically untenable, and Mr Mandelson was left with little choice but to resign from his post just 18 months into Labour’s first term in office.
Mr Mandelson returned to the Cabinet in October 1999 when then PMTony Blair appointed him Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a role that placed him at the heart of efforts to implement the Good Friday Agreement.
However, his comeback was short-lived.
On 24 January 2001, he resigned again after allegations that he had sought to intervene on behalf of the Hinduja brothers, two wealthy Indian businessmen, in relation to their UK passport applications.
At the time, the brothers were major donors to the Millennium Dome project, which Mr Mandelson had championed.
Although subsequent investigations cleared him of improper conduct, the perception of a conflict of interest proved politically damaging, and his second forced exit further cemented his reputation as a brilliant but controversial operator within New Labour.
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