A Labour peer has claimed he was “discreetly” told to “shut up” by Number 10 after issuing warnings about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
Maurice Glasman, who was the only Labour figure to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration, said he was shown “photos of Peter Mandelson blowing out birthday candles with Jeffrey Epstein” while in the US in January.
The peer told Sophy Ridge on the Politics Hub that he reported this back to Downing Street, and was given a “discreet suggestion to basically shut up about that”.
Lord Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US last Thursday after details of his close relationship with disgraced financier Mr Epstein emerged in the media.
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He had always admitted to having known Epstein, but emails between Lord Mandelson and the convicted paedophile showed the diplomat had sent messages of support even as the financier faced jail for sex offences in 2008.
Lord Glasman, who founded the Blue Labour movement in 2009 as a counter to New Labour, told Sophy that he “held the line” on Lord Mandelson even as he was presented with photographs of the ambassador and Epstein together.
He said he “reported back to No 10, that really I would think again about this appointment because really [his dismissal] was bound to happen”.
“It was not out of the clear blue sky, was it?”
The peer said he was asked to send back a report on the matter, which he did, and “that was that”.
“I did say when I got back, I’d think again about this publicly. And then I did get a discreet suggestion to basically shut up about that. And I did.”
Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday he would have “never appointed” Lord Mandelson as US ambassador if he knew then what he knows now.
The prime minister said Lord Mandelson went through a proper due diligence process before his appointment.
But, he added: “Had I known then what I know now, I’d have never appointed him.”
Sir Keir said he knew before Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday that Lord Mandelson had not yet answered questions from government officials, but was unaware of the contents of the messages that led to his sacking.
He said Lord Mandelson did not provide answers until “very late” on Wednesday, which was when he decided he had to be “removed”.
Lord Mandelson has said he regrets his relationship with Epstein, claiming repeatedly he wishes they had never met.