John Swinney 'not surprised' over Lord Peter Mandelson sacking as he makes call on Donald Trump whisky deal

Lord Mandelson was dismissed by Sir Keir on Thursday after emails revealed he appeared to show support for paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. The Labour peer had previously described Epstein as his “best pal” when he was facing sex offence charges - apparently calling on the late convicted paedophile to fight his charges.

The Foreign Office said the emails show the depth of the relationship between the two men was “materially different from that known at the time of his appointment”.

Mr Swinney, who stayed with Lord Mandelson and undertook a breakfast meeting with him on his visit to Washington this week, has suggested the ambassador never should have been appointed in the first place.

READ MORE: Lord Mandelson sacked by Keir Starmer after revelations about Jeffrey Epstein relationship

Speaking to journalists about the sacking, Mr Swinney said: “In light of the information that’s come out, I’m not at all surprised by it.

“The Prime Minister has obviously taken that decision. But the Prime Minister also took another decision, which was to appoint him in the first place. Maybe if he’d looked a little bit more carefully at this and exercised his judgement.”

Pressed over whether the sacking will jeopardise the potential for a deal on Scotch whisky tariffs, Mr Swinney said: “No because that’s been taken forward by the UK government's trade negotiators.

READ MORE: Anas Sarwar refuses to say 11 times if he spoke to Sir Keir Starmer about Ian Murray sacking

“Obviously, the UK ambassador will be involved in some degree of activity, but fundamentally the trade negotiations have been conducted by other people.

“I will be making sure that there's full UK government impetus behind the opportunity I’ve created by my dialogue with president Trump to try to get a better deal for Scottish whisky.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said emails between Lord Mandelson and Epstein made him “very, very uncomfortable”, as he backed the peer being sacked.

He said: “I think there’s legitimate questions that the public will want answers to and I think, ultimately, the Prime Minister has made the right decision.”

Asked if the decision suggested issues with the Prime Minister’s judgment, Mr Sarwar drew parallels with the previous Tory administration in the UK.

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“If you compare it to the years under the Conservatives, it was dither, delay, not even referring to the Standards Commissioner, often defending the indefensible,” he said.