New details have emerged of the full scope of security concerns that prompted the UK government’s official vetting body to reject security clearance for Peter Mandelson, the disgraced former British cabinet minister who was forced to step down as UK ambassador to the United States just months after taking the post.
Mandelson’s short tenure in Washington ended in September 2024, when he resigned after public revelations of his long-standing close personal ties to deceased American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this year, he was stripped of his lifetime peerage in the House of Lords over the scandal. The controversy has plagued Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration, which has faced relentless public and political scrutiny over its 2024 decision to appoint Mandelson to one of the UK’s most high-profile diplomatic postings, despite pre-existing concerns about his associations.
It was already confirmed earlier this year that the United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV), the national agency responsible for assessing security clearance for senior public roles, had formally concluded Mandelson should be denied clearance. However, the permanent secretary at the UK Foreign Office overruled that finding and approved the clearance anyway, clearing the way for his appointment.
In its latest reporting published Wednesday, The Guardian has exposed new, specific connections flagged by UKSV that raised red flags for vetters, including ties to senior figures across Israel, China, and Russia that created unacceptable national security risks.
Among the Israeli connections flagged was a regular contact between Mandelson and Tamir Hayman, a former head of Israeli military intelligence. Hayman led the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Intelligence Directorate from 2018 to 2021, and currently serves as director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INNS), a leading Tel Aviv-based think tank. Hayman has previously publicly acknowledged that during his tenure as intelligence chief, Israeli officials pushed the United States to carry out the 2020 drone assassination of senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
UKSV’s assessment found Mandelson and Hayman communicated once every two months. The INNS pushed back on the characterization of the relationship in a statement to The Guardian, saying Hayman has “no personal connection or familiarity whatsoever” with Mandelson, and noting that Mandelson participated in the think tank’s external advisory framework before his ambassadorial appointment.
Vetting officials also flagged a separate financial tie: Mandelson took out a £1 million loan from an unnamed business figure to purchase shares in Moon Active, an Israeli gaming firm best known for developing the globally popular mobile game Coin Master. Additional links to Israeli figures, connected through Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, have also previously come to light. Reporting from Middle East Eye in February 2025 revealed that in 2013, Epstein asked former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to assign Mandelson to lead the sale of Paz Oil Company, Israel’s largest fuel provider. That same year, Mandelson also reached out to Epstein to request that Epstein consult Barak for input on Israeli political consultant Asaf Eisin.
Beyond Israeli connections, UKSV’s report also highlighted problematic associations with senior figures from both China and Russia that created security concerns. One Chinese figure flagged was Lan Fo’an, China’s current Minister of Finance, who reportedly held several meetings with Mandelson each year. Lan has also met separately with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves over the past two years, a fact that has prompted new questions about whether Mandelson, while serving as ambassador, played any unreported role in arranging or facilitating those meetings.
On the Russian side, UKSV reiterated long-documented concerns over Mandelson’s long-standing close friendship with sanctioned Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. Earlier this year, it was revealed that as far back as 2010, Mandelson asked Deripaska to help Epstein secure a Russian visa to visit Moscow, a connection that raised further red flags for vetters.
The new revelations come as Starmer’s government faces growing parliamentary pressure to release all official documents related to Mandelson’s appointment. Earlier this month, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee accused the government of intentionally withholding key relevant records, despite a formal parliamentary motion ordering the full release of the files. A new batch of documents related to the Mandelson appointment is scheduled to be declassified and released next month.
In a statement issued Thursday, a government spokesperson reiterated that the administration is “committed to complying” with the parliamentary motion “in full.”