Philip Barton gives evidence to foreign affairs committee, with Morgan McSweeney due later this morning, ahead of vote this afternoon
Richard Foord (Lib Dem) says at the committee last week he said that Sam Coates had reported an allegation that Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s then chief of staff, called the Foreign Office and told them to “just fucking approve” the Mandelson appointment. Foord says he made a mistake; Coates had not reported this. He says he was referring to a remark make made in a private conversation to a member of the committee.
Barton says he has heard versions of this story. He says he cannot remember McSweeney swearing “in a meeting at me, or indeed in general”. He says he does not think there is any substance to this.
At no point did anyone consult me, ask me. I was presented with a decision … and told to get on with it.
Epstein, through both the presidential election campaign in the US and more generally in US politics, was a controversial figure. And I was worried that [Mandelson’s links to Epstein] could become a problem in future – not because I was expecting that we were going to find out more, because to be honest I wasn’t.
I just thought that it was a potentially difficult issue politically in the United States.
