Mandelson-Starmer latest: Former peer’s ‘five-figure’ US ambassador pay-off ‘to be reviewed’ by Foreign Office – UK Times

The Labour Party continues to face criticism and backlash over the fallout from Lord Peter Mandelson’s involvement in the latest release of the Epstein files.

Baroness Ayesha Hazarika told Sky News: “This has been an absolutely shameful week for the Labour Party.”

The Times Radio host who was once Harriet Harman’s special adviser said she has “never seen such anger” from people in the party.

But she warned that “this is the consequences of a boys club.”

She pointed out that much was known about Mandelson and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and asked why Sir Keir Starmer thought he needed to replace a woman – Dame Karen Pierce – with Mandelson as ambassador to the US even though “she was doing a perfectly good job.”

She said: “We in the Labour Party have got to ask some soul reflecting questions.”

Welfare secretary Pat McFadden is urging Lord Peter Mandelson to give back an exit payment he received after he was sacked from office following new documents released in the Epstein files.

“I don’t think it will wash with the public,” he said about Lord Mandelson receiving the money and suggested he give the cash to a charity which helps women who have been the victims of abuse.

It is understood that Mandelson received a five figure pay off from the Foreign Office when he returned to the UK after being withdrawn as ambassador.

Mr McFadden said he feels “betrayed” by the man he used to work for but insisted he “had no idea” about this “other side of his life…live downloading government material to a man in America I had never heard of.”

The Independent’s Whitehall editor Kate Devlin and political editor David Maddox report:

Lucy Powell told The Independent that the vote, on 26 February, represents “a line in the sand” in Labour’s fight to stop the advance of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

“I imagine [Mandelson] will come up in some parts of the constituency,” Ms Powell said: “more than others for those who more closely follow the news.”

As one former Labour prime minister famously said, “a week is a long time in politics”.

That is particularly true for one Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, who until Friday was the chief executive of the lobbying firm Global Counsel, which he co-founded with Peter Mandelson.

Mr Wegg-Prosser has been a close associate of the former Labour peer for decades, served as one of his key advisers and even became the director of Downing Street’s strategic communications unit under Tony Blair.

The Independent’s Whitehall editor Kate Devlin and political editor David Maddox report:

Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader Daisy Cooper has urged the Financial Conduct Authority investigate Lord Peter Mandelson over allegations of insider trading.

“The sharing of confidential information with a private financier could easily have provided an unfair and lucrative advantage in the financial markets, either by Epstein himself or by his associates,” Cooper said in the letter to the FCA, seen by the Guardian.

“Mandelson could also have personally profited from this arrangement.”

She added: “He and others must face criminal prosecution if they are found to have abused trading laws for financial benefit.”

Sir Sadiq Khan said Sir Keir Starmer “must stay”, likening politics to a 90-minute football match as he defended the Labour leader’s handling of the Peter Mandelson row and branded the disgraced peer “arrogant”.

But Sir Sadiq told The Observer: “Football is a 90-minute game. You wouldn’t dream of saying in the 35th minute because you’re 2-0 down – we’ll take all the players off and sack the manager.’The mayor, who has been in office for a decade, also took aim at Peter Mandelson, saying he was “the only person who knew” what was in the Epstein files.

Sir Sadiq said: “The whole Mandelson saga is a case study in “there’s one rule for the elites and the establishment and there’s another rule for the rest of us”.

“It also shows the arrogance of the man. The only person who knew what was in those files was Peter Mandelson. It beggars belief he still put himself forward to be the ambassador to the US.”

Lord Peter Mandelson is reported to have received a payout worth tens of thousands of pounds after being sacked as US ambassador over new details that emerged in the latest tranche of documents released in the Epstein files, according to the Times.

Government sources confirmed that a financial settlement had been agreed but a number was not confirmed, but the payment is now under review, according to the BBC.

While his salary has not been published, the role is among the highest paid in the diplomatic service raking in between £155,000 and £220,000 per year.

His exit is said to have left him with a payout equivalent to three months of taxpayer-funded pay, according to the Times and is estimated to be between £38,750 and £55,000 before tax and other deductions.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Peter Mandelson’s civil service employment was terminated in accordance with legal advice and the terms and conditions of his employment.

“Normal civil services HR processes were followed. Further information will be provided to Parliament as part of the government response to the motion passed last week which is being co-ordinated by the cabinet office.”

Sir Keir Starmer is facing further backlash as it emerged that deputy prime minister David Lammy warned the leader about appointing Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador amid his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Friends and allies of Lammy told the Telegraph he had been against the appointment of Mandelson and in favour of an extension of Dame Karen Pierce’s term in the role due to her connections to President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

Mr Starmer is said to be “devastated” over the scandal and contemplating whether to stay as PM, according to the publication.

Lucy Powell, Deputy Labour Leader, told The Independent the scandal could impact the Gorton and Denton by-election.

“I imagine [Peter Mandelson] will come up in some parts of the constituency,” she said.

“More than others for those who more closely follow the news.”

Ms Powell added: “All I’d say is that prime ministers have to make judgement calls all day long and all the time, and sometimes they get them wrong.

“I think the prime minister’s put his hands up about that.”

A poll by Opinium indicated that more than half, 55 per cent, of British voters thought Sir Keir Starmer should quit as Labour leader, with just 23 per cent saying he should remain.

Sir Keir’s net approval rate fell three points in a fortnight to minus 44, with 61 per cent of those surveyed saying they disapproved of him and just 17 per cent saying they approved.Opinium surveyed 2,054 adults between Wednesday and Friday.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown said the situation facing Sir Keir was “serious” and suggested he had been “too slow to do the right things” to clean up politics in the wake of the Peter Mandelson row.