British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday sought to calm public anger over his December 2024 decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the United States, given the Labour politician’s known ties to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer apologized to Epstein’s victims and said he had been “lied to” during the vetting process for Mandelson. He said he understood and shared the “anger and frustration” felt by politicians, including allies in the Labour Party, and by the public.
Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador last September as more damaging evidence of his relationship with Epstein emerged. Newly released files have further illuminated that relationship, and Mandelson now faces a police investigation.
Starmer said it had been publicly known that Mandelson knew Epstein, but “none of us knew the depth and the darkness of that relationship.” Emails released by the US Justice Department suggested 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 bloc’s debt crisis. Starmer accused Mandelson of downplaying and misrepresenting the extent of the relationship.
“I was lied to, lied to; deceit,” Starmer said, adding that he shared MPs’ anger after a torrid session in the House of Commons the previous day during Prime Minister’s Questions. Addressing Epstein’s victims directly, he said: “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 received when appointing Mandelson but was constrained by a police request not to do anything that could prejudice the ongoing investigation. A former top public prosecutor, Starmer said he would not take any step—even if politically tempting or popular—that risked justice for victims.
Mandelson, 72, a former European Commissioner for Trade who had twice resigned from senior government posts in disgrace, is not accused of sexual offences and says he never witnessed such wrongdoing.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called Starmer’s position “untenable” and urged Labour MPs to back opposition calls for a no-confidence motion, saying it was “a question of when, not if, he goes.” However, Labour holds a large majority in the House of Commons—404 of 650 seats—so removing Starmer would require a significant rebellion within his own party.