Lord Mandelson would have been subject to a “thorough” and “intimate” vetting process before he was appointed UK ambassador to the US, a former head of MI6 has said.
Sir Richard Moore, who left his post last September, told Sky News’ lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim he had not been part of the process, amid more revelations about the ex-Labour peer’s relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Sir Keir Starmer last week apologised to the public and to Epstein’s victims for believing what he called “Mandelson’s lies”.
The prime minister insisted he was misled over the extent of Lord Mandelson and Epstein’s links, saying he had “no reason” to believe the peer was allegedly lying when he said he barely knew Epstein before being made ambassador.
Sir Keir criticised the vetting process that Lord Mandelson went through. The Epstein files appear to show regular contact between the former Labour grandee and Epstein after the US financier’s sex offence conviction in 2008.
