SIR Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure after files revealed he knew Peter Mandelson was a “reputational risk” before appointing him as UK ambassador to the US.
The dossier shows the PM was warned about the Labour peer’s links to disgraced financier and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Yet despite the warnings, the PM pressed ahead with the decision to send Peter Mandelson to Washington.
The files also indicate Sir Keir had been told Mandelson continued his relationship with Epstein even after the financier’s 2008 conviction.
But Mandelson was eventually sacked just months after taking the post.
The controversy deepened when Mandelson demanded a staggering £547,000 pay-off following his departure.
Instead, he walked away with £75,000 of taxpayer-funded cash as well as a discretionary payment worth more than £34,000.
Officials said Mandelson was legally entitled to three months of his £157,000 salary, but critics say the extra payment raises serious questions.
Tory shadow minister Neil O’Brien blasted the deal as “hush money”, claiming it was intended to keep Mandelson quiet about the affair.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the PM of misleading the country, saying the files show he had not been honest with the public or Parliament about what he knew.
And Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf piled on the pressure.
He Starmer was warned about Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein but appointed him anyway.
The Reform UK chairman added: “Starmer lied. Starmer must resign.”
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