The fall of Peter Mandelson and the many questions the UK government must now answer

Peter Mandelson and Keir Starmer pictured in February 2025. Flickr/Number 10, CC BY-NC-ND

No accident waiting to happen can ever have delivered on its promise so spectacularly as Lord Mandelson, with the continuous revelations of his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The decision by the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, to appoint Mandelson as ambassador in Washington DC always appeared a high-risk, high-reward strategy. But no reward could ever have repaid such risk.

There...