Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced intensive criticism on Thursday after his December 2024 decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to the United States reignited controversy over Mandelson’s ties to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer apologised directly to Epstein’s victims and said he had been “lied to” during the vetting process that led to Mandelson’s appointment. He acknowledged he understood and shared the “anger and frustration” expressed by MPs, party colleagues and members of the public.
Mandelson was dismissed from the ambassadorial post last September as increasingly damaging evidence about his relationship with Epstein emerged. Newly released documents have added detail to that connection, and Mandelson is now the subject of a police investigation.
Starmer said it had long been publicly known Mandelson had some contact with Epstein, but that “none of us knew the depth and the darkness of that relationship.” Emails made public by the US Justice Department are reported to show Mandelson sent Epstein a 2009 government memo about possible UK asset sales and tax changes, and in 2010 allegedly warned Epstein in advance about a planned €500 billion EU bailout package during the eurozone debt crisis. Starmer accused Mandelson of minimising and misrepresenting how extensive the relationship was.
“I was lied to, lied to; deceit,” the prime minister said, after a bruising session at Prime Minister’s Questions. Addressing victims, he added: “I’m 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 appointing him.”
Starmer said he wanted to publish the security-vetting advice he had received when making the appointment, but said a police request prevented him from taking any action that might prejudice the ongoing investigation. As a former senior public prosecutor, he said he would not take steps—even if politically popular—that risked justice for victims.
Mandelson, 72, a one-time European Commissioner for Trade who twice resigned from senior government roles amid scandal, is not accused of sexual offences and has denied witnessing such wrongdoing.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described Starmer’s position as “untenable” and urged Tory and Labour MPs to support calls for a no-confidence motion, saying it was “a question of when, not if, he goes.” Removing the prime minister would be difficult: Labour holds a large Commons majority, 404 of 650 seats, so ousting Starmer would require a substantial rebellion within his own party.