Appointing Lord Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US was “worth the risk”, a minister has told Sky News.

Peter Kyle said the government put the Labour peer forward for the Washington role, despite knowing he had a “strong relationship” with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It is this relationship that led to Peter Mandelson being fired on Thursday by the prime minister.

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But explaining the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson, Business Secretary Mr Kyle said: “The risk of appointing [him] knowing what was already public was worth the risk.

“Now, of course, we’ve seen the emails which were not published at the time, were not public and not even known about. And that has changed this situation.”

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, he rejected the suggestion that Lord Mandelson was appointed to Washington before security checks were completed.

He explained there was a two-stage vetting process for Lord Mandelson before he took on the ambassador role.

The first was done by the Cabinet Office, while the second was a “political process where there were political conversations done in Number 10 about all the other aspects of an appointment”, he said.

This is an apparent reference to Sir Keir Starmer asking follow-up questions based on the information provided by the vetting.

These are believed to have included why Lord Mandelson continued contact with Epstein after he was convicted and why he was reported to have stayed in one of the paedophile financier’s homes while he was in prison.

Mr Kyle said: “Both of these things turned up information that was already public, and a decision was made based on Peter’s singular talents in this area, that the risk of appointing knowing what was already public was worth the risk.”

Mr Kyle also pointed to some of the government’s achievements under Lord Mandelson, such as the UK becoming the first country to sign a trade deal with the US, and President Donald Trump’s state visit next week.

Mr Kyle also admitted that the government knew that Lord Mandelson and Epstein had “a strong relationship”.

“We knew that there were risks involved,” he concluded.

PM had only ‘extracts of emails’ ahead of defence of Mandelson at PMQs – as Tories accuse him of ‘lying’

Speaking to Sky News, Kyle also sought to clarify the timeline of what Sir Keir Starmer knew about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, and when he found this out.

It follows Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accusing the prime minister of “lying to the whole country” about his knowledge of the then US ambassador’s relationship with the paedophile.

Allegations about Lord Mandelson began to emerge in the newspapers on Tuesday, while more serious allegations – that the Labour peer had suggested Epstein’s first conviction for sexual offences was wrongful and should be challenged – were sent to the Foreign Office on the same day by Bloomberg, which was seeking a response from the government.

But the following day, Sir Keir went into the House of Commons and publicly backed Britain’s man in Washington, giving him his full confidence. Only the next morning – on Thursday – did the PM then sack Lord Mandelson, a decision Downing Street has insisted was made based on “new information”.

Read more:
Witch-hunt vibe in Labour on who approved appointment
Senior Labour MP demands answers over Mandelson vetting

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Kyle said: “Number 10 had what was publicly available on Tuesday, which was extracts of emails which were not in context, and they weren’t the full email.

“Immediately upon having being alerted to extracts of emails, the Foreign Office contacted Peter Mandelson and asked for his account of the emails and asked for them to be put into context and for his response. That response did not come before PMQs [on Wednesday].

“Then after PMQs, the full emails were released by Bloomberg in the evening.

“By the first thing the next morning when the prime minister had time to read the emails in full, having had them in full and reading them almost immediately of having them – Peter was withdrawn as ambassador.”

The Conservatives have claimed Sir Keir is lying about what he knew, with Laura Trott telling Sky News there are “grave questions about the prime minister’s judgement”.

The shadow education secretary called for “transparency”, and told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We need to understand what was known and when.”

They believe that Sir Keir was in possession of the full emails on Tuesday, because the Foreign Office passed these to Number 10. This is despite the PM backing Mandelson the following day.

Ms Trott explained: “We are calling for transparency because, if what we have outlined is correct, then the prime minister did lie and that is an extremely, extremely serious thing to have happened.”

She added: “This was a prime minister who stood on the steps of Downing Street and said that he was going to restore political integrity and look where we are now. We’ve had two senior resignations in the space of the number of weeks.

“The prime minister’s authority is completely shot.”

But Ms Trott refused to be drawn on whether she thinks Sir Keir should resign, only stating that he is “a rudderless, a weak prime minister whose authority is shot at a time we can least afford it as a country”.

People who attacked and injured police officers at a march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson “should and will pay a price” for their violence, the business secretary has said.

Peter Kyle condemned the bad behaviour at the “Unite the Kingdom” event in London on Saturday, which saw up to 150,000 take part in the rally.

Appearing on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Kyle said the number of people who turned up showed that free speech is “alive and well” in the UK.

He said: “It doesn’t disturb me, because it’s actually proof that we live in a country where free speech, free association, is alive and well.

“The bit that disturbs me is that when a minority go to an extreme and end up perpetrating violence against the police – that is unacceptable and those people should and will pay a price for it.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood vowed that anyone found to have taken part in criminal activity would “face the full force of the law” – as police said at least 25 people were arrested and 26 officers were injured – including four who were seriously hurt.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer posted on X: “People have a right to peaceful protest. It is core to our country’s values.

“But we will not stand for assaults on police officers doing their job or for people feeling intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin.

“Britain is a nation proudly built on tolerance, diversity and respect. Our flag represents our diverse country and we will never surrender it to those that use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division.”

Protesters forming the rally gathered in the centre of the capital, holding Union and St George’s flags.

Mr Kyle said: “The flag was waved quite a lot and I do want to make the point that the flag belongs to all of us.

“That flag means a lot of different things to a lot of people, but it is about essential British and English values and principles.

“Those English values and principles include free speech, freedom of association and the like, and all of those things are demonstrated just by the fact that that protest went along and that demonstration went along completely freely, it shows that those values are actually alive and well.”

Protesters heard a series of speeches, including from Robinson, who called it the “biggest freedom of speech” in British history.

Police estimated that between 110,000 to 150,000 attended the event.

An anti-racism counter-protest, attended by about 5,000 campaigners, also took place, with the two groups clashing on Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, separated by lines of police.

The Metropolitan Police‘s Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said officers faced “significant aggression” from “Unite the Kingdom” attendees.

“The violence they faced was wholly unacceptable,” he said.

“Twenty-six officers were injured, including four seriously – among them broken teeth, a possible broken nose, a concussion, a prolapsed disc and a head injury.”

People have been arrested for a range of offences, including affray, violent disorder, assaults, and criminal damage.

Police said the Robinson crowd was too big to fit into Whitehall and a confrontation happened when police tried to stop them from encircling counter-protesters and accessing the area from different routes.

A Met spokesman said: “When officers moved in to stop them, they faced unacceptable violence. They were assaulted with kicks and punches. Bottles, flares and other projectiles were thrown.”

Officers continued to face aggression in multiple locations, in particular at the north of Whitehall as they worked to create a safe exit route for those who had been taking part in the Stand Up To Racism protest.

Robinson supporters hurled projectiles at counter-demonstrators as both groups faced off on Whitehall, police said.

A row of police horses stood opposite a crowd waving Union flags, and at one point, a glass bottle seemed to strike one of the horses, causing both the animal and its rider to stumble backward.

Musk makes surprise appearance

Robinson live-streamed the rally on X, with its audience peaking at 2.9 million viewers on Saturday afternoon.

Making a surprise appearance via video link, tech billionaire Elon Musk called for a “change of government” in the UK.

“You can’t – we don’t have another four years, or whenever the next election is, it’s too long,” Musk told the crowd. “Something’s got to be done. There’s got to be a dissolution of parliament and a new vote held.”

TV presenter Katie Hopkins also spoke after earlier appearing alongside Robinson, Lawrence Fox and Ant Middleton at the front of the march.

‘Revolution has started – you can’t stop it’

With a voice which sounded hoarse from shouting, Robinson told crowds during his speech that “millions” had showed up for the rally.

“The dam has well and truly burst,” he said. “The cat is out of the bag and there is no putting it back in. The silent majority will be silent no longer.”

Addressing the prime minister and the Labour government, Robinson said: “The revolution has started – and you can’t stop it.”

Referring to a Court of Appeal decision to overturn an injunction blocking asylum seekers being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, Robinson claimed UK courts found the rights of undocumented migrants supersede those of the “local community”.

He said: “They told the world that Somalians, Afghanis, Pakistanis, all of them, their rights supersede yours – the British public, the people that built this nation.”

The Home Office will return migrants to France for the first time next week under the terms of a new deal, Sky News understands.

The agreement, which was signed in July, saw migrants first detained on 6 August, and they will now be flown back to the continent.

The ‘one in, one out’ deal means the UK can send people back to France if they have entered the country illegally. In exchange, the UK will allow asylum seekers to enter through a safe and legal route – as long as they have not previously tried to enter illegally.

It is a pilot scheme for now, which will be in place until June 2026.

Read more: How UK-France migrant returns deal works

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The scheme comes amid growing public anger over immigration, with the issue recently becoming voters’ top concern for the first time since Brexit.

On Saturday, up to 150,000 people marched in London, gathering around Westminster in a protest dubbed ‘Unite the Kingdom’, and organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. There were a number of clashes with police, leading to 25 arrests and 26 police officers being injured.

Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said the “horrendous incidents” of violence were “completely abhorrent”, and said she was glad to hear those involved will feel the force of the law.

But speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, she warned that the protest shows that people feel “let down” by the government on immigration.

Ms Trott told Sky News: “There is clearly an issue in this country at the moment about immigration and migration. People clearly feel let down by a government that came in and said they were going to ‘smash the gangs’. And what we’ve seen is an increase in migration.

“We are not seeing the action from this government, which is distracted by scandal after scandal.”

She also accused Sir Keir Starmer of being a “rudderless prime minister”.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said that violence against police is “unacceptable” but said it is “proof that we live in a country where free speech, free association is alive and well”.

On immigration, he insisted that the government is “straining at the bit to get a grip on the migration crisis”, which Mr Kyle said Labour “inherited from the Conservatives”.

“We’ve been doing everything we can,” he said.

“The lesson is that by cooperating with our partners, France, rather than rowing with them, we are able to deliver.

“So I hope the flights will start as quickly as possible.”

But he said he was unaware of the exact date.

Mr Kyle added that ministers were “also angry about what we’ve inherited” and that they were doing “everything possible to get a grip on it”.

The number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel has topped 30,000 for the year so far.

It is the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 30,000 mark has been passed since data on the crossings was first reported in 2018.