UKSV identified concerns about associations Mandelson had with the Chinese finance minister, Lan Fo'an, the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and a former Israeli military intelligence general, Tamir Hayman, the sources said. The agency also flagged a very close relationship with a fourth individual, who is British, that it believed could be compromising, they said. According to the sources, officials additionally flagged a 1m loan used by Mandelson to buy shares in an Israeli startup, the sources added, and the officials noted he appeared naive to the risks that his historical relationships with other individuals could be exploited.
In the 1980s he was known for his defense of apartheid and his criticism of the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in Pretoria, which he accused of terrorism. In 2013, five days after the death of Nelson Mandela, the great South African anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, he said that the media idealized his figure.
Peter Ricketts said there had to be more awkward questions asked of a person such as Peter Mandelson than the system allows, given all the baggage of his three decades in politics and business. For that person there must surely be an even more thorough process including detailed interviews with those who have known him/her well in their previous life. That will take time, Lord Ricketts said.