Lord Mandelson would have been topic to a “thorough” and “intimate” vetting course of earlier than he was appointed UK ambassador to the US, a former head of MI6 has stated.
Sir Richard Moore, who left his put up final September, advised Sky Information’ lead world information presenter Yalda Hakim he had not been a part of the method, amid extra revelations concerning the ex-Labour peer’s relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Sir Keir Starmer final week apologised to the general public and to Epstein’s victims for believing what he referred to as “Mandelson’s lies”.
The prime minister insisted he was misled over the extent of Lord Mandelson and Epstein’s hyperlinks, saying he had “no purpose” to imagine the peer was allegedly mendacity when he stated he barely knew Epstein earlier than being made ambassador.
Former ambassador Lord Mandelson in Washington DC in February 2025. Pic: Reuters
Sir Keir criticised the vetting course of that Lord Mandelson went by. The Epstein recordsdata seem to indicate common contact between the previous Labour grandee and Epstein after the US financier’s intercourse offence conviction in 2008.
Talking about background checks extra broadly, former spy chief Sir Richard stated: “Undoubtedly there would have been some background checks after which there’s an interview course of, the place you rely to a level.
“You have acquired the background checks, in fact, to set it in opposition to, however you depend on individuals in these interview processes being very sincere.”
He added: “I have been by that many, many occasions. They will typically be uncomfortable conversations since you’re being requested about very personal parts of your way of life or about your monetary state of affairs, and you might be required to reply these questions honestly.
“And the system relies on the steadiness between truthful solutions within the interview course of and the checks on whether or not what’s been stated is truthful.”
Learn extra: What do the Epstein files say about Mandelson?
Sir Richard stated he was not conscious of any intelligence regarding the peer’s appointment as US ambassador, however even when he was, he wouldn’t be capable to share it.
He added: “I will say to you, I am not conscious of something, however I repeat what I stated, it’s important to perceive the sensitivities of this, these items doesn’t get circulated across the constructing. So the reply is, I do not know.”
He additionally referred to as out what he described because the “rancid misogyny and appalling systematic abuse of girls and ladies” uncovered within the Epstein recordsdata.
Lord Mandelson was appointed ambassador in December 2024 and was sacked by Sir Keir in September 2025 over the peer’s ties to Epstein.
It comes as authorities figures put together at hand over large quantities of fabric to Parliament’s safety watchdog after they got here beneath stress to disclose what was recognized concerning the peer’s friendship with Epstein when he was picked for the Washington job.
In the meantime, the Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation following accusations that Lord Mandelson handed market-sensitive info to Epstein in 2009.
