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.
