Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party are under pressure to come clean on what they knew when about Peter Mandelson’s messages to Jeffrey Epstein. Darren Staples/PA Wire

Labour ministers will have to answer awkward questions in parliament on the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington hours before President Donald Trump lands in the UK for a state visit.

The Speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, has granted an emergency debate, requested by the Tories, over Mandelson’s dismissal as ambassador and his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

It means senior Labour figures will have to engage in a three-hour debate with MPs in the House of Commons in a week when the government hoped to shake off the recent scandal.

Keir Starmer is facing more scrutiny over when he bec

See Full Page