No 10 questioned Mandelson on Epstein links before appointment

Sir Keir Starmer explicitly asked Lord Mandelson about his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein before deciding to appoint him as the UK's ambassador to the US, the BBC understands.

The prime minister is believed to have asked Mandelson three questions relating to his friendship with the disgraced financier while he was being vetted for the influential role.

The revelation is likely to pile further scrutiny on what Sir Keir knew before the Labour peer got the job. Mandelson's friendship with Epstein was known at the time of his appointment but No 10 said new information about it only came to light this week, prompting his sacking.

Downing Street and Mandelson have declined to comment.

Mandelson was asked to leave his post on Thursday after a now notorious cache of emails was reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday evening.

These included supportive messages Mandelson sent after Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.

In one message, Mandelson is reported to have told Epstein to "fight for early release" and, the day before he began his prison sentence, another which read: "I think the world of you."

These emails did not show up in two vetting processes carried out in Whitehall around his appointment.

When Mandelson was under consideration for ambassador, the Cabinet Office's Propriety and Ethics Team (PET) prepared a file for the prime minister that contained information about Mandelson and Epstein's links, the BBC has been told.

After reviewing the file, No 10 sources say Sir Keir asked Mandelson to address three specific questions, which were sent to him via email by the prime minister's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.

These questions were: why has he continued contact with Epstein after he was convicted? Why was he reported to have stayed in one of Epstein's homes while the financier was in prison? And was he associated with a charity founded by Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell that the financier had backed?

It is understood Mandelson believes that he was truthful and frank about his association with Epstein, and told No 10 that he had not stayed in Epstein's Manhattan apartment in 2009, while the paedophile was in prison. Another source confirmed Mandelson told Downing Street he had not stayed there.

Court documents in 2023 showed Epstein telling his private banker that Mandelson was planning to stay, but the peer has never explicitly denied or confirmed if he did.

No 10 sources believe Mandelson was "economical with the truth" in his answers to the three questions.

However, at the time, his answers were considered sufficient for him to be appointed which led to a second vetting process, called "developed vetting" (DV), being carried out under the auspices of the Foreign Office.

The BBC has been told the emails were not available to those in government when Lord Mandelson was appointed, as they came from a defunct email address.

A senior Whitehall figure said it would have been possible to locate those messages had more questions been asked, and forensic background digging been done.

The row has led to growing pressure on Sir Keir over his judgement in making Mandelson ambassador, and questions over the extent of what he knew about ties between Mandelson and Epstein.

Some Labour MPs in public and private are asking whether Sir Keir should resign, and some are suggesting Number 10 senior aides are to blame.

Sources have told the BBC that Mandelson was asked to resign on Wednesday, even though the prime minister had backed him at PMQs.

Mandelson refused, and after a "furious" Sir Keir read the emails on Wednesday night, a final decision to sack him was taken on Thursday morning.

The Cabinet Office has declined to comment. Mandelson has repeatedly expressed regret about his relationship with Epstein who died in jail in 2019.