There is no doubt that Sir Keir Starmer made an appalling mistake in appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. The prime minister already knew that Lord Mandelson had been close to Jeffrey Epstein, even after the American financier was found guilty of procuring a child for prostitution.
He did not know how deeply implicated Lord Mandelson was in the abuse of women and girls, but for the leader of a government claiming to take violence against women and girls more seriously than its predecessor, the appointment was a bad misjudgement.
