The FT has published comments made by Peter Mandelson’s replacement as ambassador to the US, career diplomat Christian Turner, which may put a more dour mood on US-UK relations during the King’s visit. Turner said to some visiting British students in mid-February:
- Said he dislikes the phrase “special relationship,” calling it “quite nostalgic, it’s quite backwards-looking, and it has a lot of baggage about it.“
- Said there is “probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States — and that is probably Israel”
- The relationship “is going to have to be different”
- Called it “extraordinary” that the Epstein scandal had “brought down a senior member of the royal family, a British ambassador to Washington, potentially the prime minister, and yet here in the US, it really hasn’t touched anybody”
- Said Starmer had been “pretty clearly on the ropes” and his future looked “quite touch and go“
- Said May elections are the key moment: “If Labour does very badly … I suspect the party will be able to go over that threshold and remove him”
- Described the Mandelson saga as a “crisis” that “has nearly brought down the government and ended the prime minister’s tenure”
- Called the vetting issue around Mandelson “a bit of a red herring,” saying the real problem was “a bunch of associations that were embarrassing to him and the government that had not been revealed”
- Questioned why no senior Americans had been held to account over Epstein, asking “How many Americans have been called to testify before Congress?” Tell us how you really feel…
An FCDO spokesman said: “These were private, informal comments made to a group of UK sixth-form students visiting the US in early February. They are certainly not any reflection of the UK government’s position.” They are fuming…
