Nick Robinson Denounces Minister Over Mandelson Scandal

Nick Robinson monstered a cabinet minister over the Peter Mandelson scandal in an extraordinary live radio clash.

The veteran Today programme presenter told Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander it was “frankly preposterous” to claim Keir Starmer knew nothing about the shamed former peer’s business and personal links before making his the UK’s ambassador to Washington.

Mandelson was sacked after just six months in the role after the full extent of his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was revealed.

It emerged last week that he was also failed security vetting, allegedly over his lobbying company’s links to China, but was still cleared to take up the job.

The prime minister is facing calls to resign over the scandal and will face MPs in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon to explain himself.

On the Today programme, Alexander insisted the PM had done nothing wrong and had in fact been let down by civil servants.

But Robinson told him: “What more did you need to know? We know that Peter Mandelson had business links with China, we know that he had business links with Russia, we know that he had personal links with Jeffrey Epstein.

“And not only do we know it, the prime minister knew it, because we know as a matter of record that Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, said ‘this appointment process is weirdly rushed’.

“So why did the prime minister appoint someone without waiting for the vetting?”

Alexander insisted “information was withheld from the prime minister and from other ministers” during the vetting process.

Robinson told him: “To come on the radio and claim that there was any surprise that Peter Mandelson had any links to Jeffrey Epstein, links to China, links to Russia … it is frankly preposterous.”

But the minister said: “The deep vetting process is undertaken specifically to look at information that was not in the public domain.

“If this process really matters, then I think your listeners will reasonably think why wasn’t the outcome of that deep vetting shared with ministers making their decisions?”

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