The tide of revulsion became too much for No 10 to hold back. By Thursday morning Labour MPs were lining up to call for Peter Mandelson to resign, urging Sir Keir Starmer to show moral leadership and sack the UK’s man in Washington.

Revelations in recent days showed the diplomat had described convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein as his “best pal” in a message included in a 2003 book of tributes to the sex trafficker, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019. A cache of emails released Wednesday evening showed Mandelson had told Epstein, “I think the world of you”, after his arrest and offered to discuss the financier’s case with his contacts.

While at Wednesday lunchtime Downing Street had hoped Mandelson could stay in post until after next week’s state visit by Donald Trump, tha

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