PETER MANDELSON’S “singular talents” were judged to outweigh concerns about his past when he was appointed ambassador to Washington, Business Secretary Peter Kyle admitted today.

Lord Mandelson was sacked on Thursday after newly released emails revealed he sent supportive messages to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein as he prepared to serve a prison sentence for sex offences.

Mr Kyle rejected claims that the appointment was made before security checks were complete, saying the Cabinet Office carried out an independent inquiry and presented information to the Prime Minister.

He said there were then “political conversations done in Number 10,” understood to include questions from Sir Keir Starmer on why Lord Mandelson maintained contact with Epstein after his conviction and why he stayed in one of his homes while the financier was in prison.

“Both of these things turned up information that was already public and a decision was made that based on Peter’s singular talents in this area, that the risk of appointing knowing what was already public was worth the risk,” he told Sky News.

Emails from 2008 published last week showed that Lord Mandelson urged Epstein to “fight for early release” and wrote: “I think the world of you,” the day before Epstein began an 18-month sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Downing Street was shown “extracts” of the correspondence on Tuesday, Mr Kyle said.

The Foreign Office sought a response, but the full cache was only published by Bloomberg the following day.

Sir Keir Starmer then withdrew the appointment within hours.

The family of Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who died in April aged 41, condemned the decision to give Lord Mandelson such a senior role.

Her sister-in-law Amanda Roberts told the BBC: “Our governments have allowed these people to hold their status and their title without shame.”