John Swinney has insisted that the Prime Minister’s sacking of Lord Mandelson will have no impact on trade negotiations.
Keir Starmer asked the Labour grandee to withdraw as ambassador to the US after emails revealed the depth of his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Foreign Office said the emails showed “the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment”.
He has now been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.
Mandelson accompanied the First Minister to the White House earlier in the week to discuss a better trade deal for Scotch whisky.
Swinney also stayed at the former Labour minister’s residence in Washington, DC.
Speaking to STV News following Mandelson’s removal, the First Minister said: “I think it’s, in light of the information that has come out, I’m not at all surprised by it.
“The Prime Minister’s office has taken that decision. But the Prime Minister also took another decision, which was to appoint him in the first place, and maybe he should have looked a bit more carefully at this in exercising his judgement.”
Swinney insisted that the removal will not jeopardise the potential for a deal with the President.
On Wednesday, the First Minister said he believes there’s a “real chance” of a better deal, adding that negotiations rest with the UK Government.
“[The deal] is being taken forward by the UK Government’s trade negotiators and, obviously, the UK ambassador will be involved in some degree of activity there.
“Fundamentally the trade negotiations have been conducted by other people and I will be making sure, I’ve written to the Prime Minister already, to follow up the very constructive discussions I had with President Trump to make sure that there’s full UK Government impetus behind the opportunity that I’ve created by my dialogue with President Trump to try to get the right deal for Scotch whisky.”
Speaking to journalists in Holyrood, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the Prime Minister had made the right decision.
“The details that came to light were deeply, deeply concerning, they made me feel very uncomfortable,” he said.
“I think there’s legitimate questions that the public will want answers to and I think, ultimately, the Prime Minister has made the right decision.”
Asked if the decision suggests issues with the Prime Minister’s judgment, Sarwar drew parallels with the previous Tory administration in the UK.
“If you compare it to the years under the Conservatives, it was dither, delay, not even referring to the Standards Commissioner, often defending the indefensible,” he said.
“(The Prime Minster has) actually taken swift action, there was swift action in terms of the resignation of (former deputy prime minister) Angela Rayner and the swift action in terms of the removal of Peter Mandelson as the ambassador to the US.”
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