Tim Newark – Political Commentator Just when you thought Labour couldn't get any more sleazy, allegations emerge that Peter Mandelson - Sir Keir Starmer's now-sacked US ambassador - passed confidential government information to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2009 when he was business secretary. Given Mandelson's chequered record, these latest claims expose once again the PM's woeful judgment in sending him to Washington after a series of previous embarrassments.