Critics today questioned how Sir Keir Starmer believed Lord Mandelson’s claim he ‘barely knew’ Jeffrey Epstein after years of reporting about the pair’s relationship.
In an attempt to defend his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US last year, the Prime Minister hit out at the peer’s ‘lies’.
At the beginning of a speech in Hastings this morning, Sir Keir directly addressed the scandal that has thrown his premiership into a fresh crisis.
He insisted that ‘none of us knew the depth of the darkness’ of Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender.
The PM said, before being appointed as US ambassador, Lord Mandelson was ‘asked directly’ about the nature of his relationship with Epstein.
‘The information now available makes clear that the answers he gave were lies. He portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew,’ he added.
‘And when that became clear and it was not true, I sacked him. Such deceit is incompatible with public service.’
Sir Keir said he was ‘sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies’ and for having appointed him as US ambassador in February 2025.
But questions were raised about the PM’s suggestion he had ‘no reason’ other than to take Lord Mandelson’s answers about Epstein at face value before appointing him.
It was pointed out how photographs of Lord Mandelson and Epstein together had been published years ago, amid widespread reporting about the pair’s links.
Lord Mandelson with Jeffrey Epstein on December 12, 2005, where he is seen trying on a belt during a visit to a boutique in the Caribbean
Lord Mandelson pictured in Epstein’s flat in Paris as the financier blew out the candles on a birthday cake
The same photograph was used to illustrate a Financial Times report in June 2023 detailing ‘repeated meetings’ between Lord Mandelson and Epstein
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir of ‘obfuscation’ following his comments on Thursday morning.
She also said the PM had been ‘banged to rights’ over the Lord Mandelson scandal, saying Sir Keir ‘will do everything he can to stay in office and he is going to use every trick in the book – do not buy it’.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the PM’s apology on Thursday as ‘very weak’ and ‘not quite believable’.
He added: ‘A Prime Minister has to have good judgment, and appointing Peter Mandelson – given what he knew – was terrible judgment.’
In August 2019, the Daily Mail published photographs of Lord Mandelson and Epstein together on the luxury Caribbean island of St Barts.
They showed the two men shopping together in December 2005, with Lord Mandelson – who at the time was the EU’s trade commissioner – trying on a white belt.
In January 2022, a further photograph of Lord Mandelson and Epstein was published by The Sun.
It showed the two men together in Epstein’s flat in Paris as the financier blew out the candles on a birthday cake.
The image was said to have been taken after Epstein had been formally charged with soliciting a woman for prostitution in August 2006.
The same photograph was used to illustrate a Financial Times report in June 2023 detailing ‘repeated meetings’ between Lord Mandelson and Epstein.
It referred to an internal JP Morgan dossier from 2019, which found ‘Epstein appears to maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew the Duke of York and Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British Government’.
The report also suggested Lord Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s lavish townhouse in Manhattan when he was business secretary in June 2009, while the financier was in prison for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
The PM this morning said he had ‘no reason’ to doubt Lord Mandelson’s answers about Epstein when he was vetted for the US ambassador job
The Government was forced to U-turn on disclosing documents related to Lord Mandelson’s appointment by furious Labour MPs – including Sir Keir’s former deputy Angela Rayner
Sir Keir himself was asked about the Financial Times article and Lord Mandelson’s links to Epstein at a press conference in January 2024.
The Labour leader told journalists at the time: ‘I do try to give pretty full answers in these sessions. I don’t know any more than you do.
‘Therefore there’s not really much I can add to what you already know, I’m afraid. And that’s simply the state of the affairs.’
Asked on Thursday afternoon why the PM said he had ‘no reason’ to doubt Lord Mandelson’s answers when he was vetted for the US ambassador job – despite the widespread reporting of the peer’s links to Epstein – Sir Keir’s official spokesman said: ‘The PM has been clear that the checks conducted on Mandelson need to be looked at.
‘He’s got concerns about what the process disclosed and that’s why it’s being looked at.’
In his speech in Hastings on Thursday morning, Sir Keir stressed he ‘understands the anger and frustration’ of Labour MPs over the Mandelson scandal, urging them to ‘remain focused on what we were elected for’.
But the PM has been warned the ‘clock is ticking’ on his leadership after an extraordinary humbling in the House of Commons on Wednesday, which left even loyalists admitting he is effectively finished.
Mrs Badenoch said it was now a ‘matter of when’ not if the PM will go, urging restive Labour MPs to talk to the Tories about triggering a vote of no confidence in the Government – although that seems unlikely as it could trigger a general election.
The meltdown was sparked when Sir Keir admitted at PMQs on Wednesday lunchtime that he installed Lord Mandelson as US ambassador despite knowing he stayed friends with Epstein after his conviction for sex offences.
The Government then tried to argue that details of Mandelson’s vetting process for the role would need to be withheld for ‘national security’ and ‘international relations’ reasons.
But within hours Sir Keir was forced to U-turn by furious Labour MPs – including his former deputy Angela Rayner – threatening to vote for a Tory disclosure motion.
Parliament’s cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee will now decide what material is released, with the group’s chair warning ’embarrassment’ is not enough for evidence to be suppressed.
Senior Labour MPs have warned the situation will ‘not end well’ for Sir Keir and the ‘clock is ticking’, while ex-Cabinet minister Lord Hutton suggested the PM’s time in power is coming to a close.
Labour Jonathan Hinder said Sir Keir ‘struck the right tone’ on Thursday morning but he had to go further.
‘But what needs to be acknowledged is that this was a catastrophic error of political and moral judgment,’ he told BBC Politics Live.
‘I don’t think that has been addressed yet. So what I am looking for is for the PM to come and speak to Labour MPs on Monday night at the PLP and acknowledge that.
‘Because everyone can see that information was available to make a very clear decision, that this many should not just have not been our ambassador he shouldn’t have been a borough council election candidate.
‘It is an absolute disgrace. And let this be the moment that people like Mandelson are no longer representing a working class party, a socialist party when he is swimming around in those circles. I am absolutely raging about it.’
Pressed whether he meant the PM had made a catastrophic misjudgement, Mr Hinder said: ‘Yes.’
He said he ‘understood’ Sir Keir’s point that he was ‘lied to’. But he added: ‘I think with the information that was available… I don’t think it is unreasonable to suggest it was a mistake even with that information.’
He continued: ‘I think Labour MPs would appreciate the PM saying ”I cocked up”.’
Mr Hinder said he did not believe Sir Keir should resign if he accepted his ‘error of judgment’.
There are demands for Sir Keir’s chief aide Morgan McSweeney to be axed over the Mandelson debacle – which ignited again after the US release of millions of Epstein emails showing the depth of their relationship.
Former minister Karl Turner told Times Radio that Labour is in a ‘crisis situation’ and Sir Keir must ‘get rid of those advisers who have given terrible advice to him’ over weeks and months.
‘If McSweeney continues in No10 Downing Street, I think the PM is up against it in a way he doesn’t need to be,’ he said.
However, Sir Keir is said to recognise that his own fate is tied to that of his closest adviser.
He voiced ‘confidence’ in Mr McSweeney on Wednesday, and Housing Secretary Steve Reed said this morning that ‘of course’ the aide will stay in post.
Allies will also take solace from the difficulties facing potential replacements.
Ms Rayner has huge support on the Labour benches, but is not thought to have settled her tax issues with HMRC after being forced to resign in September.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Wes Streeting is widely regarded as on manoeuvres but was previously close to Lord Mandelson.
Another oft-touted contender, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, was blocked by Sir Keir from standing in the Gorton & Denton by-election and so does not have the immediate platform to mount a challenge.
Some Labour MPs have been talking up the credentials of defence minister Al Carns, although he has only been in Parliament since 2024.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband would also be in the frame as a replacement should Sir Keir be engulfed imminently, but has insisted he does not want the job.
Rumours of ministerial resignations to enforce the PM’s departure have also yet to come to pass.
Labour rules require one candidate to get nominations from 80 MPs in order to mount a challenge.
One senior Labour source told the Daily Mail: ‘Would any credible challenger go before the by election or before May? That’s not tempting.’
