Speaking to MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) on Tuesday Kier Starmer's former Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney said that his recommendation to the PM to appoint Peter Mandelson was a 'serious error of judgement.'
Speaking to the committee, McSweeney said: 'I resigned because I believe responsibility should rest with those who make serious mistakes. Accountability in public life cannot apply only when it is convenient. The prime minister relied on my advice, and I got it wrong,'according to the Irish Times.
'What I did do was make a recommendation based on my judgment that Mandelson's experience, relationships and political skills could serve the national interest in Washington at an important moment. That judgment was a mistake.'
'What I did not do was oversee national security vetting, ask officials to ignore procedures, request that steps should be skipped, or communicate explicitly or implicitly that checks should be cleared at all costs. I would never have considered that acceptable.'
McSweeney also said that upon finding out Mandelson was linked with Epstein was 'like a knife through my soul.'
McSweeney added that 'I did not expect that level of connection, he said.' 'I thought he had reestablished himself as a credible, political figure.'
'The nature of the relationship that I understood he had with Epstein was not a close friendship. How I understood it at the time was a passing acquaintance that he regretted having and that he apologised for,' when asked about what he thought the nature of the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein was like.
'What has emerged since then was way, way, way worse than I had expected at the time, he continued.
Testimony my McSweeney comes just hours before the house votes on whether Starmer should face an inquiry as to whether he misled the house.
'I have responsibility for being totally transparent with you, with parliament and the British public,' Starmer said earlier. 'I take that very seriously as well.'
Source: International Business Times UK
