Cooper says Mandelson should never have been appointed as US ambassador

Yvette Cooper has said Peter Mandelson should "never have been appointed" as ambassador to the United States, as questions continue over the handling of his appointment and the release of messages linked to the row. The British foreign secretary made the comments during a trip to Beijing, where she was asked about the disclosure of more than 1,000 pages of documents. She also declined to say whether Keir Starmer was a strong and effective leader.