\n However, speaking in response to an urgent question in the House of Commons on Thursday, Foreign Minister Stephen Doughty said: \u201cIn light of the additional information in the emails written by Peter Mandelson, the Prime Minister has asked the Foreign Secretary to withdraw him as ambassador to the United States.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe emails show\u00a0that the depth and extent of Lord Mandelson\u2019s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The SNP<\/a>\u2019s Stephen Flynn said Sir Keir had left his ministers to “shred” their reputations by forcing them to defend Lord Mandelson.\n<\/p>\n \n In the Commons he questioned the appointment, and backed Tory calls for all relevant materials to be released.\n<\/p>\n \n “I do not know what it is about the decades of scandals and being best friends with the notorious child trafficker and paedophile which should have got some alarm bells ringing in No 10 before this decision was taken,” he said.\n<\/p>\n \n He also asked if Labour had removed the whip from the peer.\n<\/p>\n \n Mr Doughty dodged the question.\n<\/p>\n \n Former Tory minister Sir David Davis said Lord Mandelson\u2019s appointment shows the \u201csheer size of the failure of the vetting process\u201d.\n<\/p>\n \n “In the public domain, Lord Mandelson had to resign for not telling the truth about an interest free loan. He had to resign, on the second occasion, because he had helped out a business friend to get a passport.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cBeyond that, there are still unresolved doubts about his behaviour as the European trade commissioner when he gave concessions to the Russians.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n He added: \u201cWhen he came to be a minister again, in 2010, the code section 71 says ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cSecretaries of State don\u2019t have private diaries he spent time with or in Mr Epstein\u2019s flat, it seems, quietly meeting other members of the people involved in the Sempra deal, which cannot be cannot be seen to following his proper duty as a Secretary of State. Was this investigated?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n Mr Doughty replied: \u201cAll candidates for ambassador positions are subject to routine, extensive vetting and background checks.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said the Prime Minister should come before Parliament to explain why Lord Mandelson was appointed US ambassador in the first place.\n<\/p>\n \n Sir Ed said in a statement: \u201cThe Prime Minister now needs to appoint an ambassador who will stand up to Trump, not cosy up to him and his cronies.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cHe also needs to come before Parliament and explain why Lord Mandelson was appointed in the first place, given everything the Government knew then.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cThis Government seems to be lurching from one crisis to another. It desperately needs to get a grip on fixing the economy and public services so badly damaged by the Conservatives.\u201d \n Lord Mandelson has reportedly wanted to fight on.\n<\/p>\n \n In recent days, there had been growing disquiet from Labour MPs too over the Prime Minister\u2019s decision to stand by Lord Mandelson.\n<\/p>\n \n On Wednesday night, Andy McDonald, Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, said: \u201cI fail to see how our ambassador to the US can possibly continue in post.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cThat he continued to engage with the paedophile Epstein after he was indicted is simply staggering.\n<\/p>\n \n “If it is right that in addition he was directly involved in business activity to the advantage of Epstein while he was business secretary, then that raises huge issues. If true it is not only unacceptable, it raises questions about whether he complied with the ministerial code.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n Sir Keir’s decision to appoint Lord Mandelson means the Prime Minister now faces questions about his judgment.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n In 1998, Lord Mandelson was forced to resign from his role as trade secretary after it emerged he had received a secret \u00a3373,000 loan from a fellow minister, Geoffrey Robinson, to buy a home.\n<\/p>\n \n He returned to cabinet just a year later, but was then, once again, forced to quit a year later, over the so-called Hinduja passport affair \u2014 allegations that he had helped a billionaire donor secure British citizenship in return for support for the Millennium Dome project.\n<\/p>\n \n An inquiry ultimately cleared him of wrongdoing.\n<\/p>\n \n He bounced back as a European commissioner, and then entered the Lords in 2008 when Gordon Brown ennobled him and made him business secretary.\n<\/p>\n \n Lord Mandelson had accompanied John Swinney<\/a> to his Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump on Tuesday.\n<\/p>\nPeter Mandelson and John Swinney leaving the White House (Image: Molly Riley) According to reports the decision to sack him was taken on Thursday morning by Sir Keir and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n