Senior Labour MPs rounded on Sir Keir Starmer last night after he admitted for the first time that he knew about Peter Mandelson‘s longer-term relationship with Jeffrey Epstein before bringing him back into government.
After months of evasion, the Prime Minister was forced to admit he appointed the Labour peer as US ambassador despite being told by officials that he had remained friends with Epstein even after his conviction for child sex offences in 2008.
Downing Street confirmed Sir Keir also knew that Mandelson had continued to stay at Epstein’s house while he was in prison and after he was released.
The admission horrified Labour MPs, with one former minister admitting it was ‘one of the worst’ days of Sir Keir’s premiership so far, while others went so far as to call for the PM’s resignation.
‘It’s time for a fresh start,’ a former minister told The Guardian, with another warning they were unsure they could back him in a confidence vote.
Even Sir Keir’s closest allies were unable to come to his defence, as one cabinet minister admitted Mandelson’s appointment was ‘very hard to defend’ and was ‘yet another self-inflicted wound’.
Another minister told The Times it felt ‘terminal’ for Sir Keir, while a third said his performance in Prime Minister’s Questions was ‘physically painful’.
There were also calls for the PM’s chief aide, Morgan McSweeney, who is understood to have been key to Mandelson’s appointment, to resign with MPs saying they had ‘lost confidence’ in him and his position was now ‘untenable’.
Keir Starmer (pictured) is facing calls to resign as PM after admitting he knew about Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein before bringing him back into government
Lord Mandelson (pictured with Sir Keir last year) was ousted as US ambassador last September after other revelations about his ties to Epstein
There have also been calls for the PM’s chief aide, Morgan McSweeney (pictured), who is understood to have been key to Mandelson’s appointment, to resign
Angela Rayner, Sir Keir’s former deputy PM, had led a huge Labour revolt against his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal
It is understood that when Mandelson was appointed towards the end of 2024, Sir Keir was handed a two-page document by the Cabinet Office ethics team, summarising the well-rehearsed conflicts of issues and previous scandals.
In what one source told The Times was ‘cut and pasted from Google’, the matters relating to Epstein were all in the public domain, including a warning from a 2019 internal JP Morgan report that ‘Jeffrey Epstein appears to maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew… and Lord Mandelson, a senior member of the British government’.
Details of when the architect of New Labour had stayed at the convicted paedophile’s home, including in 2009 when Epstein was still in prison, were also spelled out.
That, it was suggested, was the extent of the vetting Mandelson faced. During angry clashes in the Commons, the PM said he had been ‘lied’ to repeatedly by Mandelson and insisted that the proper ‘process’ had been followed.
But last night he was facing questions from all sides about his own judgment in continuing with the appointment. Kemi Badenoch, who forced the admission from Sir Keir, said his decision to press ahead was ‘absolutely shocking’.
Yesterday’s admission came after Mrs Badenoch deployed a rare Commons procedure to force the Government to release key documents surrounding the controversial appointment. The PM said he was willing to release all documents except those relating to national security and international relations.
Mrs Badenoch said: ‘The national security issue was appointing Mandelson in the first place… This is not about national security; this is about the Prime Minister’s job security.’
Sir Keir insisted he acted swiftly to sack Mandelson last year when it emerged he had advised Epstein to appeal against his conviction for soliciting a minor.
He told MPs he was ‘as angry as the public’ about the conduct of his former ally. ‘He lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein… I regret appointing him.’
It is understood that when Mandelson (pictured) was appointed towards the end of 2024, Sir Keir was handed a two-page document by the Cabinet Office ethics team
Peter Mandelson pictured with Jeffrey Epstein on a yacht
A photograph released as part of the Epstein files apparently shows Lord Mandelson in his underwear talking to a woman who is wearing a white bath robe
Documents released in the Epstein files include an Epstein bank statement with a $25,000 transfer to Peter Mandelson – although the peer says he cannot remember receiving the money and believes it is fake
The tranche of documents also includes an email seemingly from Lord Mandelson to Epstein, talking about the UK government having ‘saleable’ assets
Dame Emily Thornberry, Labour chairman of the foreign affairs committee, said the fiasco could have been avoided if the PM had allowed Mandelson to be interviewed by MPs such as herself, instead of rushing through the political appointment.
Mr John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn’s former number two, told Sky News the PM should quit: ‘I’ve never called for him to go but I have lost confidence in him. The decisions around Mandelson pushed me over the edge.’
Asked whether the vetting process had thrown up Mandelson’s ongoing relationship with Epstein, the PM said: ‘Yes, it did.. As a result, various questions were put to him.’
Sir Keir said the vetting documents would confirm ‘the extent to which, time and time again, Mandelson completely misrepresented the extent of his relationship with Epstein and lied throughout the process.’
