Mandelson appointment scandal leaves Labour facing serious questions over Epstein links
The SNP has stated that Labour still has “serious questions” to answer regarding Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US, even after the release of thousands of documents about the posting.
The party’s leader in Westminster, Dave Doogan, insisted that the appointment of the “scandal-plagued peer” revealed a “deep rot” at the core of the Labour Government at Westminster.
The SNP MP added: “Even if Starmer is finally removed from office, the connections to Mandelson are so widespread across the Labour Party, that the issue will not disappear.”
With Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint the former cabinet minister to the high-profile role leading to questions about his premiership, Mr. Doogan insisted that “the Prime Minister should have done the decent thing and resigned months ago.”
Lord Mandelson was dismissed as US ambassador in September last year due to his connections with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr. Doogan spoke out as the second set of documents related to Sir Keir’s decision to award the prestigious Washington job to the veteran Labour politician, rather than a career diplomat, were released by the Government on Monday afternoon.
These documents showed Lord Mandelson said the Government would “never regret” appointing him to the role.
The Labour Party has serious questions to answer about why it gave Jeffrey Epstein’s friend such a powerful role in the UK government, - Dave Doogan, SNP Westminster leader
But the documents also showed he apparently “declined to comply” with a request to hand over his personal phone and allow the Government to publish WhatsApp messages and other information related to his appointment.
Ahead of their publication, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman described the sweeping Government effort to publish the documents as an “unprecedented piece of Government transparency.”
Mr. Doogan said: “The sordid revelations in the Peter Mandelson scandal are utterly damning and show a deep rot at the center of the Labour government, from No 10 down.
“The Labour Party has serious questions to answer about why it gave Jeffrey Epstein’s friend such a powerful role in the UK Government, and allowed the scandal-plagued peer to wield such influence, despite it being a matter of public record that he maintained his close friendship with the convicted pedophile and had repeatedly been forced from office in the past.”
The SNP Westminster leader added: “Peter Mandelson shared market-sensitive, UK government information with Epstein. He should never have been allowed anywhere near power.
“It is shameful that Starmer recklessly appointed him – and the fact that he still hasn’t taken action to remove Mandelson’s peerage, titles, and taxpayer-funded golden goodbye pay-off and pension is a disgrace.”
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