Sir Keir Starmer has picked New Labour stalwart Peter Mandelson to be Britain’s new ambassador to Washington, set to take up the post just as Donald Trump’s second presidency begins. It comes hours after the PM was questioned by parliament’s Liaison Committee for the first time.
Thursday 19 December 2024 21:17, UK
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Lord Mandelson, 71, known as the “Prince of Darkness” from his days as a New Labour’s spin doctor, will be the prime minister’s link to Donald Trump.
The former cabinet minister and Brussels commissioner is a consummate political networker and his appointment will be seen by supporters as a masterstroke.
But he has also been one of the most divisive figures in British politics over many years and his appointment will be seen by Labour left-wingers as an act of cronyism by the PM.
Lord Mandelson had to resign from Tony Blair’s cabinet twice, first over an undeclared bank loan and then over intervening in a passport application by a top Indian businessman.
Clearly the current Labour leadership loves him sufficiently to hand his this plum job, though many on the left of the party will be furious about his appointment.
News of Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s new US ambassador comes just hours after the prime minister was asked about Donald Trump’s trade policy.
Facing the Liaison Committee of MPs earlier, Sir Keir Starmer said he is “of course alive” to the “danger of tariffs” and is “not a fan” of them.
‘It’s not US or EU’
Asked if he thinks seeking a closer relationship with the EU could affect his ability to strike a deal with the US, Sir Keir says: “I don’t accept you have to either be with the US or the EU.”
He adds: “We do want a closer relationship with the EU on security and trade, at the same time I want to improve our relationship with the US.
“That’s among the reasons I am making sure we have a good relationship with the incoming president.”
Mr Trump has described tariff as “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.”
Asked if he thinks he can make progress on trade with the US, Sir Keir says: “Yes I do.”
Caroline Flint, a Politics Hub panellist tonight, tells Sophy Ridge her fellow ex-Labour minister Peter Mandelson is “very networked internationally” and there’s “no doubting his CV”.
He’s not only held cabinet positions during the Blair and Brown years, but also held trade roles and was Labour’s spin doctor.
“Peter is very adaptable, I would say, in different situations,” Caroline tells the programme.
She hasn’t got “any worries” about him doing the job of US ambassador, even with such an unconventional president as Donald Trump.
‘A formidable opponent’
Guto Harri, former Downing Street communications chief during the Boris Johnson years (and Trump’s first presidency), says “in many ways it’s an inspired choice”.
Guto says: “He’s hard as nails, he’s brutal, he’s shrewd, he can do charm, he does a lot of menace.
“And we are looking at a brutal transactional president who is not going to go sentimental about the special relationship.
“He’s going to try and nail the toughest deal possible on trade with the UK – and he’s up against a formidable opponent here.”
By becoming the UK’s man in Washington, Lord Mandelson will be following someone thought to have done a pretty good job dealing with Team Trump in recent years, says our US correspondent Mark Stone.
Dame Karen Pierce has had the role since 2020, straddling the first Trump presidency and the Biden years, and forged close enough ties to become known as “the Trump whisperer”.
For Mandelson, “trade is going to be a massive thing” – as the UK and other countries grapple with the president-elect’s threat to impose “massive tariffs on foreign trade coming into the US”.
But there are of course “broader issues” when dealing with such an “unconventional president”, says Mark.
As a “player”, and someone who “knows how to work a room”, the prime minister clearly reckons Mandelson’s someone who can handle it.
He is certainly a “consummate diplomat”.
The appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK’s new ambassador to the US is Sir Keir Starmer’s “most controversial appointment yet”, our chief political correspondent Jon Craig says.
He says Mandelson is “loved and loathed in equal measure”.
“He’s clearly wanted this job, and he clearly feels he is the person who will have the ear of Donald Trump,” Jon says.
“But it will be controversial because he is seen as such a New Labour crony.
“If you thought the appointment of Sue Gray was controversial, this is more so.”
Jon adds: “It’s a controversial appointment, but supporters will say it is an absolute master stroke.”
Peter Mandelson is set to be appointed as the UK’s new ambassador to Washington, Sky News understands.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer prepares for Donald Trump’s presidency, with which he hopes he can forge positive ties.
Lord Mandelson was a huge figure during the New Labour years, but hasn’t served in government since then.
He was last a minister under Gordon Brown, 14 years ago.
Now speaking to Sophy Ridge is campaigner and rape survivor Ellie Wilson.
Ellie says her former partner was found guilty of raping her multiple times in 2022.
“I decided to waive my anonymity after he was found guilty,” she says.
“For me, after he’d been found guilty the reports kept calling him a ‘talented athlete’ and they kept talking about his ‘bright future’ and I was just no one. I was a nameless, lifeless victim.
“I didn’t want that to be my story. I didn’t want to feel like I had to be shamed and keep my identity secret, so I made the decision to waive my anonymity so that I could reclaim the narrative and tell my story on my own terms.”
‘Horrific trolling’
She says she also “wanted to expose the failures in the criminal justice system”.
Ellie also says she “faced horrific trolling and harassment” after she spoke out.
“When we’re looking at what Gisele [Pelicot] has done it’s important to remember she has taken a step that takes so much bravery because it doesn’t come without consequences,” she adds.
Sophy Ridge asks Reem Alsalem, the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, about what more governments should do to tackle cases of rape.
She explains: “The main issue is to change laws criminalising rapes to link the definition of rape to the absence of consent.”
Such discussions are happening in France in light of the Gisele Pelicot case but should happen elsewhere too, she adds.
Ms Alsalem also calls for “a frank and urgent discussion on the role of pornography and digital platforms in accelerating this kind of appalling violence”.
The UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls is speaking to Sophy Ridge about the Gisele Pelicot case.
Reem Alsalem says this is a “watershed moment” and it “represents so many cases” that happen every day.
She says: “It took this case to shock our conscious and to make us realise how violent and intrusive rape is.
“And also that many of those committing the rapes are average men that surround us women everywhere. Men we work with, who come to our homes and who walk in the streets next to us.
“It really brings back the discussion on consent.”
She says “ongoing impunity” and the “lack of accountability” is what “allows this to fester”.
Watch: The Gisele Pelicot case explained
For me, there’s only one contender for person of the year: Gisele Pelicot.
The woman who has recalibrated how we think about rape by refusing to feel shame.
“It’s time we change the way we look at rape,” she said outside court today – and more than anyone I can think of, she’s done that.
“Shame must change sides,” she said, and perhaps that is a little more true today than it’s ever been.
But there’s something else I want to talk about – something much more difficult to confront than the inspiration and dignity of Gisele Pelicot.
51 men – and if you read about them, their backgrounds, their jobs, their families, or lack of family, they’re all quite different.
A firefighter, a nurse, an unemployed alcoholic.
Some were abused as children. Some had comfortable upbringings with children of their own.
Six had domestic violence convictions, 45 didn’t.
One was 27, another was 74.
There’s no pattern here. Nothing we can point to.
Other than the fact there is no profile of a rapist, which is perhaps the most frightening thing of all.
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