Labour minister in BBC car crash as Laura Kuennsberg skewers Peter Mandelson claims

A Labour minister was grilled relentlessly by the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg during a car crash interview as she quizzed him about Lord Mandelson's links with Jeffrey Epstein in the light of the peer's sacking as UK Ambassador to the US. Peter Kyle was put on the spot on Ms Kuenssberg's Sunday morning current affairs show moments after the family of Virginia Giuffre, the woman who was sex-trafficked by the billionaire said Lord Mandelson should never have been appointed in the first place. Ms Giuffre took her life earlier this year.

Pressed on the issue, Mr Kyle, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, began by suggesting Lord Mandelson had been appointed during a time when the UK was trying to reset its relationship with Washington. However, things rapidaly turned tense when Mr Kyle was repeatedly challenged about the vetting process which resulted in Lord Mandelson's appointment, and refused to admit it was a mistake.

Ms Kuennsberg asked him: "Do you think Peter Mandelson misled or was economical with Downing Street, or do you think that Downing Street is now trying to cover its tracks, and they did know, but made the decision for the reasons that you've already outlined?"

He replied: "All I can do is reiterate what the facts are, that the emails revealed a material difference between what number 10 was believed at the time of the appointment, and the vetting process, which is independent and run by the Cabinet Office, was able to conclude based on the evidence, there's a material difference between the two.

"There was a lot of information public at the time.

"Peter Mandelson had appeared on Newsnight just this year as ambassador, and he was not questioned about Epstein once."

Undeterred, Ms Kuenssberg persisted: "But this is about Keir Starmer judgment. This is not about what other actors may or may not have done once he was in the job.

"We understand that after the initial vetting was carried out by the Cabinet Office, Keir Starmer, through his chief of staff, posed three questions to Lord Madison about his relationship with Epstein, given everything that was in the public domain, not to speak also of his long history of various business deals, was it really enough to ask him three questions about his relationship, his publicly known relationship, with one of the most notorious pedophiles?

Mr Kyle replied: "There had been an independent vetting process by the Cabinet Office that got into all the details that could have been got hold of at the time."

Ms Kuenssberg hit back: "Really? There are suggestions that it was only two pages this morning. Is that wrong?"

Mr Kyle, appearing slightly flustered, said: "Well maybe, I have no idea how long the I haven't read it, but there was a thorough vetting process, which is the same for every public appointment where somebody outside of government is brought in."

Ms Kuenssberg said: "Forgive me, Secretary of State, if you haven't read it, you can't tell us on in all conscience that it was a thorough vetting process."

Ms Kuennsberg then pressed Mr Kyle on whether he thought the PM had made a mistake.

He replied: "I think what has happened is new information. We didn't know the depth of the relationship.

"We didn't know that Peter Mandelson had advised Jeffrey Epstein post conviction, and actually he pled guilty at that so that there are new circumstances.

"We will go back and look at the appointment, you know. We'll go back and judge on what on then what we know now, but we didn't know that at the point."

Lord Mandelson was appointed as the UK's Ambassador to the United States on February 10, 2025, marking a high-profile return to public office as the first political appointee in nearly half a century, though his tenure was marred by controversy over his past association with Jeffrey Epstein.

The appointment drew scrutiny after revelations of extensive correspondence with Epstein emerged, prompting Prime Minister Keir Starmer to sack him on September 11, 2025, just before a scheduled state visit by US President Donald Trump.

Lord Mandelson expressed deep regret for maintaining the relationship "for far longer than I should have done," but the scandal, including a letter describing Epstein as "my best pal," led to his immediate withdrawal amid public and political outrage over the implications for victims of Epstein's crimes.

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