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PULSE POINTS
❓WHAT HAPPENED: Sir Keir Starmer apologized to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and admitted to being misled by Lord Peter Mandelson, whom he appointed as British ambassador to Washington despite Mandelson’s ties to Epstein.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Lord Peter Mandelson, Jeffrey Epstein, Labour MPs, and opposition leaders such as Kemi Badenoch and Sir Ed Davey.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The controversy surrounds Mandelson’s appointment in 2024 and revelations emerging as late as 2023, with Starmer addressing the issue in Hastings on Thursday.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The information now available makes clear that the answers he gave were lies. Such deceit is incompatible with public service.” – Sir Keir Starmer
🎯IMPACT: Mandelson has resigned from the House of Lords, left the Labour Party, and faces a criminal investigation. Calls for a no-confidence vote in Starmer are growing among opposition parties.
IN FULL
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has apologized to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein after former British ambassador to the U.S. Lord Peter Mandelson was exposed as having even deeper ties to the pedophile than previously suspected. Starmer admitted it had long been publicly known that Mandelson and Epstein were friends, but insisted that “none of us knew the depth of the darkness of that relationship.”
Starmer said. He confirmed that Mandelson had been questioned during the vetting process, saying that “The information now available makes clear that the answers he gave were lies,” but insisting he had no reason to disbelieve Mandelson’s word—despite his long history of resigning from government posts amid scandals.
Starmer addressed Epstein’s victims directly, saying: “The victims of Epstein have lived with trauma that most of us can barely comprehend. I am sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you, and sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him.”
Mandelson, a senior Labour figure for decades, previously served as a Cabinet minister under former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and also served as a European Commissioner in Brussels, Belgium. He was elevated to the House of Lords by Brown and appointed ambassador to the United States by Starmer despite multiple past controversies, including his known association with Epstein, raised by critics, including The National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam, prior to his appointment.
The political fallout has intensified pressure on Starmer’s leadership. Several Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) have expressed anger over how Mandelson’s appointment was handled, with some calling for the removal of Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who was involved in the process.
The release of documents related to Mandelson’s appointment has been delayed after London’s Metropolitan Police requested that publication be paused to avoid undermining the investigation.
Image via 10 Downing Street.
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