Keir Starmer’s public image is one of stolid caution. This was something deliberately crafted at the start of his leadership of the Labour party to put him into sharp contrast with the charismatic but chaotic then prime minister, Boris Johnson. Starmer is – we were repeatedly told – forensic. He’s a details man who plays by the book.

However, look more closely and you will see that Starmer is actually something of a political risk-taker. The hiring – and now firing – of Peter Mandelson is just the latest case in point.

Mandelson was appointed as ambassador to the US despite what was already known about his links to Jeffrey Epstein. That there might be more to come out was a risk that Starmer was clearly willing to take.

For a while, this seemed to be paying off. All reports were that Mandelson was doing a good job of building an unexpectedly warm relationship between the

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