A Labour peer has claimed he was "discreetly" told to "shut up" by Number 10 after issuing warnings about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

Maurice Glasman, who was the only Labour figure to attend Donald Trump's inauguration, said he was shown "photos of Peter Mandelson blowing out birthday candles with Jeffrey Epstein" while in the US in January.

The peer told Sophy Ridge on the Politics Hub that he reported this back to Downing Street, and was given a "discreet suggestion to basically shut up about that".

Lord Mandelson was sacked as the UK's ambassador to the US last Thursday after details of his close relationship with disgraced financier Mr Epstein emerged in the media.

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He had always admitted to

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