British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right) talks with Britain's then-ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson in February 26, 2025, in Washington, DC. Photo / Getty Images
Senior British Labour MP Angela Rayner has forced Prime Minister Keir Starmer into an about-turn over his handling of the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal.
The Prime Minister’s own MPs are calling for him to consider his position after the planned release of documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the United States descended into chaos.
The files were set to be released by the Prime Minister’s most senior civil servant. But in a severe blow to Starmer’s authority, Downing Street was forced to hand the process to Parliament’s intelligence and security committee after former deputy prime minister Rayner and senior Labour MPs insisted that No 10 should not decide what material is published.
The backbench revolt in the House of Commons means the ISC, an independent, cross-party group of MPs, will oversee decisions about what information will be put in the public domain.
It is the latest climbdown by Starmer after several Labour rebellions and more than a dozen about-turns during his time in Government.
There were renewed calls for Starmer to sack Morgan McSweeney, his chief of staff, for having proposed Mandelson serve as US ambassador.
It follows days of disclosures about Mandelson’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein, including evidence he sent sensitive government information to the paedophile when he was former PM Gordon Brown’s business secretary. These have triggered a police investigation and led to the peer quitting the House of Lords.
The scandal has led to questions about the Prime Minister’s judgment in appointing Mandelson as ambassador to the US last February.
Earlier, Starmer tried to limit the damage by condemning the peer. Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: “Mandelson betrayed our country, our Parliament and my party. He lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador. I regret appointing him.
“If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near government.”
In response, Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said: “Keir Starmer has confirmed he knew about Mandelson’s continued relationship with the paedophile Epstein when he appointed him ambassador.
“His catastrophic judgment has harmed the special relationship, endangered national security, and embarrassed our nation.”
Starmer also admitted he was aware when appointing Mandelson that the peer stayed at Epstein’s house after the banker’s 2008 child prostitution conviction.
The Labour rebellion centred on the Prime Minister’s decision to agree to a move by the Conservatives to release documents linked to Mandelson’s appointment.
Starmer said he would release the documents requested but insisted that some would need to be exempted on grounds of national security or international relations.
The Prime Minister said that Sir Chris Wormald, the Cabinet Secretary, would oversee the releases and what would be redacted.
However, in the two hours after Starmer laid out the position in the Commons, a succession of Labour MPs stood up and called for a different approach. Many insisted that the ISC should have final say on the releases instead.
Rayner, the former deputy prime minister tipped by colleagues as a future Labour leadership contender, said the ISC should take over because of the “importance of transparency”.
Over the weekend it was reported that she had amassed a £1 million ($2.2m) war chest to fight any future leadership campaign.
Dame Meg Hillier, the Labour chair of the Treasury committee, and John McDonnell, who was Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow chancellor, also urged the Government to reconsider.
It soon became clear that enough Labour MPs were willing to rebel and defeat the Government in the vote on the proposal that a change in position was needed.
Rayner, who was sacked from Starmer’s Cabinet over revelations that she avoided paying £40,000 in stamp duty, helped negotiate a different stance with the Labour whips.
The new position, which was then voted through in the House of Commons, commits the Government to publishing a trove of documents related to Mandelson. Among them are every message and email the peer sent to government advisers, civil servants and ministers when an ambassador.
Final decisions on what should be exempted will now be made by the ISC, led by Lord Kevan Beamish, a former Labour MP. The ISC is also considering publishing a report about whether Mandelson’s appointment was appropriate.
Some Labour MPs were left infuriated with Downing Street’s handling of the issue.
Barry Gardiner, speaking on the BBC’s Newsnight, refused to defend Starmer. When asked if the Prime Minister should resign, Gardiner said he should “think very hard about what’s in the country’s best interest”.
McDonnell said: “I’ve never called for him to go, but I have lost confidence in him. I think Keir needs to examine his own situation, certainly his own position.”
MP Brian Leishman also said that MPs had “lost confidence” in McSweeney and described his position as “untenable”.
Downing Street had wanted to release the answers Mandelson gave on his connections to Epstein before the appointment to prove its claim that he lied.
This appeared at odds with the Metropolitan Police, which blocked the move, fearing it could be prejudicial to the investigation under way over whether Mandelson committed misconduct in public office.
Ella Marriott, a Met Police commander, said: “As with any investigation, securing and preserving any potential evidence is vital. For this reason, when approached by the UK Government today with their intent to publish material, we reviewed it immediately and advised that the release of specific documents could undermine our current investigation.”
Mandelson has not publicly commented since the announcement of the police investigation earlier this week.
He has apologised to Epstein’s victims in the past, saying he had been “taken in” by a “charismatic criminal liar”.
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