Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley and Cabinet minister Steve Reed have clashed in a “lying” row on live TV over the Mandelson scandal.
The Communities Secretary was sent out on the morning media round on Thursday to defend Sir Keir Starmer who is fighting to save his premiership rocked by the storm over disgraced peer Lord Mandelson.
The Prime Minister is facing anger from Labour MPs over his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as British ambassador to the US given that at the time he knew he still had an ongoing relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Richard Madeley: "The PM.. was aware that Mandelson had had a close relationship with a convicted paedophile financier. He knew that. That wasn't hindsight. He knew that & he disregarded that when he made the appointment"@SteveReedMP: "That is not true" pic.twitter.com/xqHqPzBtEB
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 5, 2026
Mr Reed insisted the decision was “rational” given Lord Mandelson’s past experience as Business Secretary and European Trade Commissioner, as well as the responses he gave about his ties with Epstein when he was going through vetting.
The Cabinet minister stressed that it later became clear that the peer had “lied” to the Government throughout a vetting process to conceal the full extent of his relationship with Epstein and he was sacked from the diplomatic post last September.
Mr Reed argued that the PM should be judged on how he responded once it emerged that Mandelson and Epstein had a far closer relationship than thought.
“As soon as he found out, he sacked him,” the minister told ITV’s morning show.
Mr Reed added: “Now we can’t legislate against liars lying.
“What you can judge somebody by is, what do they do when the liar is exposed? And Keir Starmer could not have acted more quickly or more decisively, he phoned him up at 5am and sacked him.”
But Mr Madeley stressed: “But the fact of the matter, and you keep avoiding this point, you keep invoking hindsight...”
Mr Reed objected: “I haven’t avoided anything you asked me.”
But Mr Madeley interrupted: “Can I finish my question, sir?”
As the exchanges grew more tetchy, Mr Reed responded: “You’re making up lies about me avoiding questions. I’m answering every single one.”
The TV presenter hit back, saying: “I’m not making up lies.
“I think anybody watching this interview will observe that you have used the excuse of hindsight to defend the Prime Minister.
“What I’m putting to you, and I’ll try it for the third time, is that what the Prime Minister was already aware of before the vetting process was undergone....so we can’t talk about hindsight.
“He was aware that Mandelson had had a close relationship with a convicted pedophile financier. He knew that. That wasn’t hindsight. He knew that and he disregarded that...”
But Mr Reed replied: “That is not true. Categorically, that is not true...
“When Mandelson went through the vetting process...he was asked questions, he provided answers that covered it up, and no other part of the vetting process exposed what was really going on.
“As soon as we discovered what had really happened, Mandelson was sacked.
“It is hindsight. I know you don’t like me using the term, but we have hindsight now. We see what he was up to. We see his deception and lies for what they truly were.”
The Government is due to publish the Mandelson files on his appointment as ambassador which it hopes will publicly expose his “lies” and ease the threat of moves against Sir Keir after his former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner led a revolt against him over withholding some of the documents.
Lord Mandelson has been accused of sending market-sensitive financial information to Epstein when he was Business Secretary between 2009 and 2010 in Gordon Brown’s government, including on a euro bail-out and sale of assets.
The Met Police has launched a criminal investigation into allegations against the peer that he committed misconduct in public office.
