14 March 2026 , 17:32
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It’s only going to get worse for Keir Starmer. He’s been forced to publish the first set of what’s known as the Mandelson files. These are documents explaining how Lord Mandelson was appointed UK ambassador to the US despite being friends with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
And what the papers confirmed is that Sir Keir was warned about Mandelson continuing the friendship even after Epstein was jailed for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14 – but chose to go ahead with the appointment anyway. However, that’s just the start. There are more emails and WhatsApp messages to be published.
The fear in No 10 is that these will reveal the extent to which Lord Mandelson was influencing the Government, though his close relationship with Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir’s former chief of staff.
Any hint of criticism of US president Donald Trump in Mandelson’s private messages will also be deeply embarrassing.
In more general terms, the release of more papers simply ensures that the issue remains in the headlines. That’s the last thing Sir Keir wants.
The Mandelson affair will influence how Sir Keir is remembered by historians.
It may be a little unfair, but most prime ministers are only known for one thing.
Neville Chamberlain declared “peace in our time” and had a policy of appeasing Hitler.
Anthony Eden was responsible for the Suez debacle, which confirmed that the UK was no longer a major world player.
Tony Blair led the nation into the invasion of Iraq.
For John Major, the defining moment of his premiership was the financial crisis known as Black Wednesday. For Liz Truss, it was the disastrous mini-Budget.
Winston Churchill, of course, was the prime minister who led us to victory in World War Two.
What will Sir Keir’s legacy be? It looks very much like he will be remembered for one of the biggest scandals ever to hit British politics.
In fact, some Labour MPs think the Mandelson affair might be the biggest scandal of our time – even worse than the Profumo affair, which gripped Britain in the 1960s, when secretary of state for war John Profumo lied to Parliament about his relationship with model Christine Keeler, who was also seeing a member of the Soviet military.
This time, the Prime Minister is personally involved. And the allegation is that he chose to promote a man who chose to be friends with a predator.
The depth of fury among Labour MPs cannot be overstated. Many of them feel Sir Keir’s behavior was unforgivable.
There’s not a lot they can do about it, for now. Labour’s internal rule book makes it hard to sack a leader.
In theory, they could do as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is urging, and back a House of Commons vote of no confidence in the Government. But that would trigger a general election (and Sir Keir could still go into that election as Labour leader), which clearly is not what Labour MPs want.
So the Prime Minister may be safe – for now. But the number of Labour MPs who want him gone, and are determined to make it happen one way or another, is growing.
That number will grow with every new revelation in future releases of the Mandelson files.
Technology & Business Editor