DOUGLAS Alexander has defended Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador despite knowing the Labour peer stayed at Jeffrey Epstein's house after he was convicted.
The newly appointed Secretary of State for Scotland claimed in an interview that it was unknown that Mandelson stayed at the convicted peadophile’s home in 2009 before his appointment, despite the Prime Minister being asked about it in January last year.
Starmer appointed Mandelson UK Ambassador to the United States of America in December 2024, before he was sacked on Thursday following several leaked documents which revealed his close friendship with the late Epstein.
Following Mandelson’s sacking, it was revealed that the security services expressed concerns before he was given the role, but No 10 went ahead with the appointment anyway.
In an interview with Sky News, Alexander claimed that “if what was known now” about Mandelson was public knowledge, the Labour peer would not have been appointed.
When quizzed on appointing a man who was known to be friends with a convicted paedophile, Alexander said: “It was a matter of record that there had been an association previously between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein.
“If what has emerged now had been known at the time, there is no doubt he would not have been appointed.”
However, in January 2024, Starmer was asked about the JP Morgan report, which suggested that Peter Mandelson had stayed at the New York townhouse belonging to Epstein in 2009.
Alexander went on to claim: “I'm not aware of what was Peter Mandelson's diary, nor am I aware of what happens in the security vetting process, which necessarily is a secret process and is kept off the desks of other ministers and indeed many ministers.”
The Secretary of State’s comments come after Mandelson was sacked as ambassador to the US after emails revealed the depth of his relationship with the paedophile financier.
The Labour grandee told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and also told him, “I think the world of you” the day before he began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
In the released documents, Mandelson described Epstein as an “intelligent, sharp-witted man”, who “parachuted” into his life, in a message in a book compiled by convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
The Labour peer also wrote that after Epstein appeared in his life, he “would spend many hours just waiting for him to turn up”.
“And often, no sooner were you getting used to having him around, you would suddenly be alone... again, leaving you with some 'interesting' friends to entertain instead.”
The letter also includes a photo of Mandelson with two women, whose faces are obscured.
Mandelson continued: “But wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal!”
Following a photo of Mandelson sitting with Epstein, he concluded: “Happy Birthday, Jeffrey. We love you!”
Leaked emails first reported by The Sun also showed that Mandelson told Epstein in 2008 that “your friends stay with you and love you” while the billionaire was being investigated for paedophilia offences.
Epstein was first criminally indicted in 2006 in Florida on a state felony charge of solicitation of prostitution. He died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.
