Keir Starmer has said sorry to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for having believed the ‘lies’ of the paedophile’s friend Peter Mandelson before appointing him as ambassador to the US.
The Prime Minister is under enormous pressure from his own MPs as the full extent of Mandelson’s relationship with the convicted sex offender emerges from files released at the weekend.
At yesterday’s PMQs, Starmer revealed he knew that relationship continued beyond Epstein’s conviction on child sex offences when Mandelson was hired last year.
The controversy has thrown a spotlight on the PM’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, who was close with the former business secretary and reportedly pushed for his appointment.
‘To them, I want to say this: I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you. Sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him.
‘Sorry that even now, you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again.’
He continued to say Mandelson was hired after the ex-Labour peer told the vetting team a series of lies and ‘portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew.’
The PM said: ‘When that became clear and it was not true, I sacked him.Such deceit is incompatible with public service.’
What happens next for Keir Starmer – and can he withstand the pressure?
Metro‘s Senior Political Reporter Craig Munro examines the situation for the troubled PM.
In the face of the biggest threat to his leadership since he stepped inside Downing Street 19 months ago, Keir Starmer tried to carry on as normal.
It’s not hard to argue that yesterday was the single worst day yet for the Prime Minister – and he’s had no shortage of bad days.
Today, he was in Hastings to deliver a speech on the subject of ‘a decent and tolerant Britain’ and his government’s Pride in Place programme.
We can assume this event has been firmly in the diary for a while, long before the shocking new details about Mandelson’s close friendship with Epstein were exposed.
But given the context of the past few days and continuing questions over his personal decision to back Mandelson, it felt like a strange time to try shifting focus to the PM’s belief in decency.
Criticism of the PM and his top advisor Morgan McSweeney may be growing among Labour MPs – including several who have thus far stayed loyal – but I wouldn’t say we’ve quite reached tipping point.
It would probably take a ministerial resignation or intervention for the whole thing to start crashing down, and there’s not much sign of that… yet.
Yesterday, the government committed to releasing reams of information surrounding the ambassadorial appointment last year – including months of messages between Mandelson and government ministers (and McSweeney, too).
Those will likely expose just how close Starmer’s chief of staff and several of his ministers were to the then-Labour peer ahead of his appointment.
Starmer said he wanted to release the files ahead of PMQs yesterday, but was warned by the police it could hurt their investigation into Mandelson’s actions.
Once they are made public – and the pressure to do so will be intense until it happens – there’s a chance things become overwhelming.
Answering questions from the press after his speech, he said aspects of the security vetting process should be investigated to see how it failed to spot the extent of the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein.
Starmer said he understood the ‘anger and frustration’ of MPs who have called for him to step down or for McSweeney to be sacked.
But he suggested this frustration was aimed at Mandelson’s ‘deceit’ prior to his appointment as ambassador, rather than any failure of judgment on his own part.
He also vowed to stay on as PM, arguing: ‘I was elected in on a mandate in 2024 to change the country for the better.’
Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central, said on local BBC Radio that she believes it is ‘inevitable that the prime minister is going to have to step down’.
She told Metro a ‘significant change’ was needed so ‘confidence can be rebuilt in Labour’.
Aspana Begum, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, agreed that Starmer’s resignation was ‘inevitable.
She told Metro: ‘It is only right for the Prime Minister and his Chief of Staff to consider their own positions in the national interest, and in the interests of the survivors and victims of Jeffrey Epstein, who endure the pain of seeking justice and accountability knowing that Peter Mandelson continued to be friends with a convicted Epstein and the Prime Minister admitted to being aware of this fact, before appointing Mandelson as US Ambassador.
‘As it is inevitable that they will have to step down, it is better to do so already and inflict less pain on Epstein’s victims and the British public
