PoolSir Keir Starmer has said he would "never" have appointed Peter Mandelson as his ambassador to the US if he had known the full details of his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In his first comments since sacking Lord Mandelson, Sir Keir said the Labour peer went through a proper due diligence process before his appointment, but he added: "Had I known then what I know now, I'd have never appointed him."
Sir Keir gave public backing to Lord Mandelson at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday only to sack him the following day.
It came after emails reported by Bloomberg showed supportive messages Lord Mandelson sent to Epstein in 2008 following his guilty plea.
The prime minister has faced questions about his judgment in appointing the peer, whose friendship with Epstein was public knowledge, in the first place.
The scandal, coming so soon after Angela Rayner's resignation as deputy prime minister, has encouraged some Labour MPs to become more vocal about their frustrations with the prime minister's leadership and the wider Downing Street operation.
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