6 Things We Learned From Top Civil Servant Over 'Toxic' Peter Mandelson Appointment

Sir Philip Barton gave evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Sir Philip Barton became the latest former civil servant to give evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the United States.

The former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office was quizzed on how the shamed former Labour peer got the role – and whether the rules were followed.

Barton left his post on January 19, 2025, less than a month before Mandelson took up his job in Washington DC, but had been closely involved in the appointment process before then.

Here are the five key things we learned from his 90-minute evidence session.

1) He Had Concerns About Mandelson’s Jeffrey Epstein links

Sir Philip told the committee that he was worried that Mandelson’s known links to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein would prove problematic.

Asked what concerns he had about the decision by Keir Starmer to give the then Labour peer the plum diplomatic post, he said: “I think it was very much ... around the possibility of his known connection to Epstein, causing an issue subsequently.

“Obviously, I didn’t know what was actually going to happen, because Epstein was such a toxic, hot potato subject in US politics itself, including in the election campaign.”

Mandelson was sacked by the prime minister after just six months in the job........

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