Keir Starmer‘s premiership was in crisis last night after he admitted bringing back Peter Mandelson – despite knowing he had stayed friends with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
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 the businessman’s conviction for child sex offences.
Downing Street confirmed the PM also knew that Mandelson had continued to stay at Epstein’s house while he was in prison and after he was released.
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.
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 (file image)
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 (file image)
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.
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. Mandelson is pictured here in his underpants inside Jeffrey Epstein’s palatial ‘House of Sin’ in Paris
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 in a two-page document. (File image: Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell are pictured)
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.’
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.’
