PM says Mandelson appointment was mistake as No 10 denies cover-up

Sir Keir Starmer has said he made a "made a mistake" in making Lord Mandelson US ambassador, as Downing Street denied claims of a "cover-up" in the release of documents relating to the appointment.

The prime minister is facing fresh questions about his judgment in giving the peer the high profile role in Washington despite Lord Mandelson's friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Files released on Wednesday show the PM was warned the appointment posed a "reputational risk".

In his first public comments since the documents were released, Sir Keir said: "It was me that made a mistake, and it's me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein, and I do that."

The Conservatives claimed there was a "cover up" because two sections in the documents reserved for the PM to write comments about Mandelson's appointment were blank, raising suspicions that they had been redacted.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said, based on her experience as a minister, she would have expected to see notes from Sir Keir explaining what he wanted to happen.

But it is understood no redactions were made to the two sections and they were published on Wednesday in the form that they were returned from the prime minister's office following his review of them.

The prime minister's official spokesman told reporters: "I refute the suggestion of a cover up. The government's complied fully."

Sir Keir last month apologised to Epstein's victims for appointing Lord Mandelson - but insisted he did not know the extent and depth of the peer's relationship with the US financier when he gave him the job in December 2024.

The peer began the ambassadorial role in February 2025 but was sacked in September after Downing Street said new information about the depth of his relationship with Epstein had emerged.

A due diligence document sent to the PM on 11 December 2024 - nine days before he was confirmed as ambassador - raised a number of issues which could pose a "reputational risk".

It highlighted a 2019 report commissioned by US bank JP Morgan which found Epstein appeared to "maintain a particularly close relationship" with Lord Mandelson.

The document notes that the peer reportedly stayed in Epstein's house while the financier was in jail in June 2009.

The initial batch of documents released by the government does not include a series of follow-up questions that Number 10 sent to Lord Mandelson about his relationship with Epstein.

Speaking in Northern Ireland on Thursday, Sir Keir said further questions were asked but he cited the ongoing Metropolitan Police investigation as the reason for why the information cannot be released..

The documents suggested Lord Mandelson was offered briefings about sensitive material from the Foreign Office before the department had finished the formal vetting process.

An email from the US and Canada department of the Foreign Office on 23 December 2024 informed Lord Mandelson he would be briefed further in person from 6 January 2025 onwards "including at higher tiers".

The peer's offer of employment on 30 January last year confirmed his developed vetting clearance.

An email on 4 February to Lord Mandelson from the department noted the role also required a higher level of vetting, known as Strap clearance, and a new application would need to be submitted to receive it.

Conservative shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart said: "Allowing a scandal-ridden former minister access to highly-sensitive information before proper clearance is completely careless."

The government has said it will review the national security vetting system, including seeking to improve the due diligence process and not announcing diplomatic appointments until security vetting has been completed.

The Liberal Democrats have said Sir Keir should refer himself to his own independent ethics adviser to determine whether he breached the Ministerial Code by assuring Parliament that "full due process" was followed during Lord Mandelson's appointment.

Lisa Smart, the party's Cabinet Office spokesperson, claimed the "evidence is mounting that he misled Parliament".

The Conservatives called for an investigation into "a potential cover-up" regarding the Mandelson files and for Sir Keir to be investigated due to potential "deficiencies in the released material".

Shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart, wrote to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards Sir Laurie Magnus, calling on him to investigate if Sir Keir made "a possible breach of the Ministerial Code".

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said Sir Keir "isn't fit" to be prime minister and answers are needed about why he was "prepared to take such a reckless gamble with the reputation of our country".

Lord Mandelson remains of the view that he did not lie to the prime minister, does not recall being asked questions about Epstein face-to-face during vetting interviews and answered written questions about his contact with the sex offender after his conviction truthfully and fully.

The peer has long argued that he accepted Epstein and his lawyer's version of events and only discovered the truth after his death in 2019.

He resigned from the Labour Party in February and was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office weeks later, over allegations he had passed market-sensitive government information to Epstein when he was a minister.

He remains under police investigation but his bail conditions were lifted last week.

Lord Mandelson has repeatedly let it be known that he believes he has not acted criminally, did not act for personal gain and is cooperating with the police.