PETER Mandelson has been accused of jeopardising crunch trade discussions between Scotland and the US by leaking inaccurate details of an interaction between the First Minister and US president Donald Trump.
The leak of comments allegedly made by John Swinney about White House renovations occurred in September last year when he flew to the US to push for a stronger trade deal for Scotland, in particular looking to secure tariff-free exports of Scotch.
The move was heralded as proof that Scotland could hold its own in major international negotiations. However, days later the trip was criticised within the SNP and the broader independence movement after reports emerged in The Spectator that Swinney had voiced support for Trump’s controversial renovation of the White House, allegedly telling him: “If you’re going to do it, you may as well go big."
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Sources close to Swinney have since denied the remarks, instead insisting that he had urged caution at the major $300 million construction project. It has been reported by The Times that the only other people present during the renovation discussions were US secretary of state Marco Rubio, Swinney’s private secretary, and the disgraced former ambassador Peter Mandelson, prompting questions over who briefed the media on the remarks.
It has since emerged that sources close to the First Minister believe the former US ambassador, who has since been forced to resign from the Labour Party and step down from the House of Lords over his links to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, was responsible.
The Times claims that Swinney’s team believe that Mandelson is the “prime suspect” for the disclosure of incorrect information, believing that the US officials and Swinney’s aide were unlikely to have spoken to the UK media about the discussion.
A Holyrood source told The Times: “At the highest level, everyone understands that there has to be a confidential space in which world leaders can speak frankly and directly, that’s how deals get done.
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“The talks with Trump were incredibly sensitive. If the ambassador is leaking details of that discussion — even relatively minor details — it fundamentally undermines our ability to get a deal for Scotland.
“When Scottish jobs and Scotland’s economy are on the line, discovering the UK’s ambassador was apparently undermining Scotland’s chances of getting a deal is jaw dropping.”
Despite Trump initially responding positively to the whisky negotiations, no deal was signed for the sector when the UK and US governments met. This resulted in a row between Swinney and Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander after the First Minister accused the Westminster government of not prioritising the Scottish distilling sector, while Alexander claimed he was playing politics with the issue.
A spokesperson for Mandelson was approached for comment by The Times.
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