Jaws drop in Westminster, but No 10 insists due process was followedpublished at 10:41 British Summer Time
Chris Mason
Political editor
This time last week, there was a drip, drip of revelations about the then-deputy prime minister and calls for her resignation.
Fast forward seven days, and there is a drip, drip of revelations about the UK’s ambassador to the United States and calls for his resignation.
A cabinet minister’s jaw drops when I tell them about the story.
For those who have kicked around at Westminster for a while, there is something familiar about it too.
Peter Mandelson twice lost his job in the cabinet two decades ago over his dealings with rich men.
Mandelson’s friendship with the late Epstein has long been publicly known, so the key political questions are actually for the prime minister, in choosing to appoint him.
Downing Street is not currently providing straight answers when we ask whether these most recent revelations are a surprise to them and whether they know what may be still to come.
They insist “due process” was followed before Mandelson’s appointment.
It would appear that either Downing Street was insufficiently curious or sceptical about the extent of Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein before giving him the job, or calculated that he would be so good in the role it would be worth soaking up any embarrassment the connection might cause them.
Or perhaps they hoped the embarrassing stuff would never come out.