(Yesterday, 02:44 PM)gortex Wrote: On the day the Mandelson papers are released we discover that Starmer was informed that hiring Mandie came with "reputational risk" over his friendship with Epstein , Starmers' national security adviser Jonathan Powell thought the appointment of Mandie was "weirdly rushed" , the upshot is that Starmer knew Mandelson had questions to answer before he appointed him as US Ambassador rather than things came to light after the appointment.
Quote:A "fact-finding" call between Mike Ostheimer, the general counsel to the PM, and Jonathan Powell, noted that the latter "found the appointment process unusual of Lord Mandelson (LM) weirdly rushed".
It adds: "JP doesn't recall any specific meetings on this that he was involved in, though there were a few conversations.
"JP raised concerns about the individual and reputation to Morgan McSweeney (MM)."
It adds that McSweeney - then Starmer's chief of staff - "responded that the issues had been addressed".
It also adds that Powell believed Starmer "may have had a couple of political conversations around this but JP was not party".
Powell also didn't "see anything himself" of the correspondence between Mandelson and the PM.
The read-out of the call also notes that the Foreign Office's then permanent under-secretary, Phillip Barton, "also had reservations around the appointment".
The also show that grifter Mandie also tried to get half a million pay out from the tax payer when he was sacked , he received a £75,000 pay out .... nice work if you can get it.
Quote:Lord Mandelson asked for more than half a million pounds as a severance payment when he was sacked in September last year - and received £75,000 instead.
The newly released files show that Mandelson requested the government "pay out the remainder of the 4-year salary costs of the fixed term appointment".
The document states: "This would have amounted to £547,201."
Instead, Mandelson received £40,330 pay in lieu of notice to cover the three months notice period in his contract, plus an additional £34,670 severance payment.
Quote:Sir Keir Starmer's now former chief of staff approved Peter Mandelson's appointment, and discussed the Labour peer's links to Jeffrey Epstein with him.
A letter from the prime minister's principal private secretary to Starmer, written on 11 December 2024, said: "You have expressed a preference for a political appointment and your Chief of Staff [Morgan McSweeney] has discussed candidates with you, with the lead candidate being Peter Mandelson.
"We have sought a due diligence review from PET (enclosed) and your chief of staff has discussed Peter's relationship with Jeffery Epstein which we will go through with you, but your director of communications is satisfied with his responses to questions about contact."
https://news.sky.com/story/politics-late...p-12593360
Everything this dumb arsed PM does turns out to be wrong to one degree or another , their must come a point where even he realises this is more than just a flesh wound and it's time for him to withdraw.
No doubt more to follow.
"Never interupt the enemy when they are making a mistake" comes to mind.
As Powell also served under Blair, and Blair has been critical of Starmer over a few things..... one has to wonder......
Rainbows
Jane