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Morgan McSweeney, the former chief of staff to the prime minister, has publicly admitted that advising Lord Mandelson’s appointment as the UK ambassador to the United States was “a serious mistake.” McSweeney, who stepped down in February following the controversial advice, initially believed that Mandelson’s prior role as an EU trade envoy positioned him well to help the UK negotiate a trade deal with the US. However, new disclosures about Mandelson’s connection with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein changed McSweeney’s perspective on the situation significantly.
During testimony to the Foreign Affairs Committee, McSweeney revealed that he had not fully disclosed the extent of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein when recommending the appointment. He described the revelations as hitting him “like a knife through my soul.” Initially, McSweeney understood their association to be a distant acquaintance that Mandelson regretted and apologised for, but later evidence proved the relationship was much closer and more troubling than expected. The uncovered details included photographs of Mandelson and Epstein together and emails from Mandelson offering support while Epstein faced sex offence charges in 2008.
The appointment proved highly controversial, particularly after it emerged that despite concerns from security vetting officials, Lord Mandelson was granted security clearance by the Foreign Office. The prime minister and McSweeney both stated they were unaware of the Foreign Office overriding these vetting concerns until recently. The prime minister now faces a parliamentary vote seeking an investigation into allegations that he misled the House of Commons about the vetting process. Although the government is expected to survive the vote, any dissent among Labour MPs could undermine the prime minister’s leadership.
McSweeney explained that a due diligence process, separate from the security vetting, had taken place before Mandelson’s appointment, with the prime minister receiving the results. He was asked to seek further clarification from Mandelson about his ties to Epstein, and at the time believed the responses to be honest. The security vetting itself was only conducted after announcing Mandelson’s appointment, a sequence McSweeney admitted seemed problematic in hindsight but said did not raise immediate alarms during the process. Furthermore, he emphasised that although Downing Street was keen to complete vetting promptly, especially to ensure Mandelson could begin work by the time of Donald Trump’s inauguration, no steps were deliberately skipped. Both McSweeney and senior Foreign Office officials denied claims that security clearance was pushed through despite significant concerns
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