LABOUR MPs raised fears of a government “cover-up” after Sir Keir Starmer today admitted he knew about Lord Peter Mandelson’s friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he appointed him ambassador to the US.

Lord Mandelson’s continued association with Epstein following his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor had been widely reported before he was named as ambassador in 2024.

Sir Keir told Prime Minister’s Questions that the peer “lied repeatedly” about the extent of the relationship after vetting procedures flagged the relationship. 

Lord Mandelson was sacked from his post, a political appointment rather than a career diplomat, in September last year after new revelations over his links with Epstein, who died in 2019.

He had already twice been sacked as cabinet minister and is linked to the PM’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.

Back-bench MPs voiced opposition today to Sir Keir’s bid to withhold some papers related to Lord Mandelson’s appointment.

The Tories used a Commons motion to demand the release of all papers related to the decision.

The PM’s amendment proposed to withhold some “papers prejudicial to UK national security or international relations.”

John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, argued that the amendment could lead to a cover-up.

Labour’s former shadow chancellor said: “I will vote against the government’s amendment today that tries to exclude papers from the inquiry into Mandelson on the grounds ‘prejudicial to international relations.’

“This is so wide that it opens up the Prime Minister to allegations of collusion in a cover-up.”

Labour MP Angela Rayner, who was Sir Keir’s deputy prime minister until September last year, suggested intelligence and security committee oversight could have a role “in keeping public confidence” in the scrutiny process.

Pointing to a 2022 disclosure motion she tabled for the Commons public accounts committee to look at papers related to personal protective equipment contracts, she asked: “Should the ISC not have the same role now in keeping public confidence in the process?”

Labour MP and Commons liaison committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier said that parliamentary select committees can “properly and sensitively handle” such information.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said that there was a role for select committees in the scrutiny process and “I will take that point away.”

Sir Keir backed down and accepted changing his amendment to read “except papers prejudicial to UK national security or international relations which shall instead be referred to the intelligence and security committee.”