The release of Peter Mandelson‘s emails and messages from his time as US ambassador could lay waste to Keir Starmer‘s desperate attempts to remain close to Donald Trump.
Officials fear that material published as part of a probe into how the close friend of notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was hired by the PM could include ‘damaging’ comments made by the former diplomat about the notoriously thin-skinned president.
The Government ceded control of the release to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), which will decide what could be released into the public domain, following a revolt by Labour backbenchers.
But when it does come, Whitehall is braced for transatlantic trouble. One official told Politico that ‘there is lots which could be damaging’, adding that the disgraced former minister and diplomat ‘used to download his thoughts in real time’.
The Epstein files have shown Mandelson sharing lewd and off-the-cuff messages with the late child abuser, including joking about ‘well-hung young men’ when he was a Cabinet minister.
It will deepen the pressure on the Prime Minister, who is facing serious questions over whether he can cling on to power.
The Daily Mail understands that in the wake of Wednesday’s Commons vote, former deputy PM Angela Rayner told an MP ‘I will be ready’ to launch a leadership challenge, despite an ongoing probe into her tax affairs.
It has been suggested Labour’s ‘women in grey suits’ could be sent to tell the PM his time is up.
Labour grandee Baroness Harriet Harman said it looked ‘weak and naive and gullible’ for the Prime Minister to say ‘he lied to me’ and warned the scandal would ‘finish him off’ unless he took the right course of action.
Officials fear that material published as part of a probe into how the close friend of notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was hired by the PM could include ‘damaging’ comments about the notoriously thin-skinned president.
Leadership speculation intensified on Thursday as the Prime Minister gave a speech apologising to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims for believing the peer’s ‘lies’ about his relationship with the paedophile financier.
‘He should be reflecting on why he made that appointment,’ she told Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast.
‘He should also be thinking about a real reset in No 10, because what you need from your team in No 10 is people who share your values and your principles and who will help you be the best prime minister you can be according to your true self.
‘And clearly that is not what happened because the Keir Starmer who was DPP (director of public prosecutions), would never have appointed somebody like Peter Mandelson to represent the country.’
Leadership speculation intensified on Thursday as the Prime Minister gave a speech apologising to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims for believing the peer’s ‘lies’ about his relationship with the paedophile financier.
Backbenchers have called for either his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney to be sacked or for Sir Keir himself to step down after bombshell revelations about Lord Mandelson’s dealings with the child sex offender.
However, immigration minister Mike Tapp today defended the under-pressure aide in a round of media interviews.
The so-called ‘special relationship’ between the UK and US is already under strain, despite Sir Keir’s best efforts to maintain it.
Trump has levied tariffs on UK-made imports, embarked on a major row with America’s Nato allies and even disparaged British troops who fought and died in Afghanistan.
The release could be delayed because the Metropolitan Police has asked the Government not to publish documents that would ‘undermine’ its probe into allegations of misconduct in public office.
And the ISC said it could not provide a timetable for releasing the documents as it reviews whether some of the papers should be withheld for national security reasons.
At an emergency press conference in Hastings the rattled-looking PM said he was ‘utterly disgusted’ by revelations about Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and ‘sorry’ he had appointed him as ambassador to Washington DC.
Labour grandee Baroness Harriet Harman said it looked ‘weak and naive and gullible’ for the Prime Minister to say ‘he lied to me’ and warned the scandal would ‘finish him off’ unless he took the right course of action.
The Daily Mail understands that in the wake of Wednesday’s Commons vote, former deputy PM Angela Rayner told an MP ‘I will be ready’ to launch a leadership challenge, despite an ongoing probe into her tax affairs.
The so-called ‘special relationship’ between the UK and US is already under strain, despite Sir Keir’s best efforts to maintain it.
But he insisted that he would ‘go on’, despite mounting Labour fury over the fiasco. And Downing Street rejected calls from Labour MPs to sack the PM’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who championed Mandelson’s appointment.
Seven Labour MPs directly called for Mr McSweeney to go, while numerous others called for a wider No10 clearout – and two said Sir Keir should resign.
One, Simon Opher, said today there needs to be a ‘clearout’ of number 10.
On the Today programme on Friday, the Labour MP said: ‘There’s a lot of anger amongst Labour MPs, because really we want to, I mean, yesterday, I want to be talking about the cancer care plan, not about Peter Mandelson.
‘So I think what we need to do, I think what needs to really happen is that we need to, Keir Starmer needs to change his advisers in Number 10, I think he’s been badly advised, and he’s been really let down, particularly on this decision.’
Asked whether this meant Mr McSweeney leaving, Mr Opher replied: ‘I think so yes’.
‘If my chief of staff had done this I think he would be looking for another job to be honest,’ he said.
Asked whether the Prime Minister had become a ‘drag’ on the Labour Party, Mr Tapp told Sky News: ‘We’re starting to turn the corner.
‘I believe if we stick with Keir Starmer, which we will, then that corner will turn faster and people will start to feel it.
‘But I completely understand the anger and the distress at what’s happened with Peter Mandelson’s appointment. I completely agree with that, and that’s why I’m really pleased to see a genuine, genuine apology from Keir Starmer.’