The PM needs to answer the question Why did he appoint Mandelson as Ambassador?

I with others argued that appointing Lord Mandelson as Ambassador was a bad idea. We had a good career diplomat Ambassador in Washington, liked by President trump, who got appropriate access and set out the UK case.

The PM knew Mandelson had connections with Epstein though he may well have not known what has come out. He would have known that President Trump had no wish to have friends of Epstein in the Oval Office given Epstein’s criminal convictions. He should have worked out that some of Mandelson’s past views and certainly some of his past statements about Trump were far from helpful in winning over President Trump. By any measure this was a bad appointment before we learned of more of the detail of the Epstein relationship.

One of my biggest annoyances is the damage this has done to UK/US relationships and the impact it has had on UK policy. When he was first appointed I urged Mandelson to see the damage the Chagos give away would do. Instead he helped Starmer reassure the President this was a good policy. Now the President has found out more of the truth about the deal he has concluded it is a very bad idea.

It looks as if Lord Mandelson failed to explain to the President the US/UK Treaty promising the UK would keep the freehold of Chagos, failed to explain the consequences of Mauritius being signed up to a No nuclear Treaty, and failed to consider the defence impact of the islands being owned by a friend of China.

An Ambassador being close to our most important ally let us down badly by not explaining all this to the President,leaving the President no choice but to change his view when someone else put the full truth to him about this bad deal.

When responding to this remember Mandelson has not been accused of any criminal offence and is innocent until proved guilty. Of course the revelations of his lifestyle and the involvement with Epstein has been quite enough for the PM to say he has behaved badly, should not be a peer and should be subject to an enquiry. All this from the man who thought he was the best person to be our most important Ambassador and who said he had full confidence in him when the Opposition pressed him in Parliament.

Why did he ever force Mandelson onto the diplomatic service given his troubled past when in government? This was well known to all of us given his loss of office twice over conduct issues.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/peter-mandelson-breaks-silence-with-jaw-dropping-statement-praising-jeffrey-epstein

Mandelson clearly sees himself as way higher than any vicims of abuse and lower level human beings.

MSN –

Lord Mandelson’s husband was paid $4,000 a month by Jeffrey Epstein through a standing order set up while the peer was deputy prime minister, according to the Epstein files.

Three payments, totalling $12,000, went into Reinaldo Avila da Silva’s account in April, May and June 2010. It is unclear whether other payments were made, or what the money was used for.

Other files released last Friday show that the paedophile also sent £10,000 to Mr da Silva in September 2009 after he asked for money to fund an osteopathy course.

The General Osteopathic Council issued a statement in which it insisted that Mr Da Silva never graduated from an osteopathy course in the UK.

Evidence has emerged showing that Lord Mandelson repeatedly leaked confidential government emails and market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein while serving in Gordon Brown’s Cabinet.

Lord Mandelson’s husband was paid $4,000 a month by Jeffrey Epstein through a standing order set up while the peer was deputy prime minister, according to the Epstein files.

Three payments, totalling $12,000, went into Reinaldo Avila da Silva’s account in April, May and June 2010. It is unclear whether other payments were made, or what the money was used for.

Other files released last Friday show that the paedophile also sent £10,000 to Mr da Silva in September 2009 after he asked for money to fund an osteopathy course.

The General Osteopathic Council issued a statement in which it insisted that Mr Da Silva never graduated from an osteopathy course in the UK.

Evidence has emerged showing that Lord Mandelson repeatedly leaked confidential government emails and market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein while serving in Gordon Brown’s Cabinet.