Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK risks being overshadowed by the Peter Mandelson scandal engulfing Labour, Kemi Badenoch has warned. The Tory leader said it was “extraordinary” Sir Keir Starmer had not yet “come clean” on the eve of the US president’s historic trip.
She accused the Prime Minister of “hiding from Parliament” because he was not present for an emergency debate on the former US ambassador’s dismissal and his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Mrs Badenoch said he had “shrivelled” from leadership and called on Sir Keir to apologise to Epstein’s victims. “The Prime Minister has shown no courage, no judgement and no backbone,” she said.
“This is a government of sleaze and scandal and Labour MPs know it.”
The debate came just hours before Mr Trump was due to touch down on British soil.
“It is extraordinary – extraordinary – that on the eve of the president’s state visit, we are talking about the US ambassador who’s been sacked in scandal,” the Tory leader told the Commons.
“The Prime Minister needs to come clean about what he knew and when he knew it, not send his junior ministers to cover for him.
“The Prime Minister needs to publish the Mandelson-Epstein files in full.
“The Prime Minister needs to take responsibility for the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.
“But the Prime Minister is not here because he is hiding from Parliament, hiding from questions.”
Mrs Badenoch has called for Sir Keir to face “serious consequences” if he had not been honest about what he knew.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Secretary suggested her department was not responsible for any failure to recognise risks in the appointment of Lord Mandelson to the Washington job.
The Foreign Office was not asked to contribute to a due diligence process ahead of the decision, nor were any concerns raised with the department about the peer, Yvette Cooper said, amid questions about the vetting process.
Her comments are likely to pile pressure on the Cabinet Office, No 10 and Sir Keir for their role in deciding whether the Labour grandee was suitable for the position.
During the debate, Dame Emily Thornberry questioned whether those vetting Lord Mandelson were told to “overlook” a “glaring national security and reputational risk”.
The chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee said: “The question is this: Did the Cabinet Office miss the glaring red flag of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, or did it fail to pass those concerns on?”
She added that her committee had called for Lord Mandelson to appear before them before his appointment, but he had not done so.
Lord Mandelson was sacked last week after the publication of emails that showed the Labour peer had sent supportive messages to Epstein as he faced jail in 2008.
Stephen Flynn, the Commons leader of the SNP, said: “The greatest scandal of all is that the Prime Minister of the UK appointed a man to that role knowing that that man had maintained a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, despite the fact Jeffrey Epstein had been convicted in 2008 in Florida.”