Keir Starmer ‘sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies’ about his relationship with Epstein – UK politics live
Starmer: ‘None of us knew depth and darkness of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein’
Starmer has addressed the fallout from the Epstein scandal during a speech this morning in Hasting, East Sussex. He said that while Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was publicly known, “none of us knew the depth and darkness” of it.
He said:
Serious allegations and serious evidence has emerged concerning Mandelson’s conduct, including his relationship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender. It had been publicly known for some time that Mandelson knew Epstein, but none of us knew the depth or the darkness of that relationship. Information that was not known at the time of his appointment [as US ambassador].
He apologised to Epstein’s victims, saying:
“I want to say this. I am 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 appointed him and sorry that even now you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again.
Key events
Labour ‘are in office, but not in power’, says Badenoch
Asked if she is “absolutely confident” there are no connections between senior Conservatives and Jeffrey Epstein, Badenoch says her name is not in the files and nor are any of her shadow cabinet “as far as I’m aware”.
She jokes:
I think we’re good, I think we’re good.
The Daily Express tees her up for her next response by asking whether the public should be more concerned over Mandelson’s appointment or Starmer’s lack of authority.
Badenoch says:
I think it’s both. That’s why I’m making that offer to Labour MPs: those of you that think this is untenable and many of them do, I saw their faces at prime minister’s questions.
They looked sick as they were listening to him confess that he always knew, they know that there is a problem.
As salacious as all these details may be … they are in office, but not in power.
Kemi Badenoch is asked about the prospect of Keir Starmer being ousted by his MPs and being replaced by the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.
She responds in a bullish manner, quipping:
I’m not worried about Angela Rayner. I think I can deal with Angela Rayner.
Badenoch says it doesn’t matter who they pick as their next leader “because they will still be a Labour person”.
She says British people ought to be put at the “forefront of their minds” and that the country “is not crying out for socialism”.
Asked about whether political appointments to ambassadorial roles should be scrapped, Badenoch says some political appointments can work, “just don’t pick the best friend of a convicted paedophile who is still hanging out with afterwards”.
Badenoch says that she does not believe there will be a general election until 2029 but that Labour MPs have an opportunity to “do better’”.
She says:
Britain is not being governed, that is what this speech is about. We need a better government.
Labour was voted in with a huge majority, they have a majority of about 160 but they can’t get anything done. Something is wrong.
She adds:
If an general election is on the cards, we will take it because we know we would do a better job.
Badenoch says “this is about people’s lives” and that she is very worried about the “nonsensical legislation” going through the house.
Asked by GB News whether Starmer’s apology earlier this morning would “cut it”, Badenoch says “not in the slightest”.
She says she forced the prime minister to “make a confession yesterday and he is backtracking now because he is a coward”.
The Tory leader adds:
The fact is he saw security vetting that every single person in this room would have realised made Mandelson unsuitable but he went ahead and appointed him because he thought he was being clever.
We all saw that press conference where they were calling him ‘our Peter’, ‘to us, he’s just Peter’.
They thought they could get away with it and now it’s all come out.
Badenoch: Starmer ‘ignored security advice’ over Mandelson appointment
And now it is the turn of Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to give a press conference. She is speaking in central London.
Of course, she opens up with an attack on the prime minister for his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal.
She says:
What he should apologise for is ignoring security advice and vetting that showed him Mandelson should never have been appointed in the first place.
But, ladies and gentlemen, you will notice he cannot bring himself to do that because his self-righteousness is his greatest weakness.
Badenoch turns her ire on Nigel Farage’s Reform UK next, mocking his unveiling of a new Welsh leader “after the last one was sent to prison in November for taking bribes from Russia”.
She says a Reform government would mean more drama and incompetence.
Asked why, as a lawyer, he believed Mandelson when he downplayed the extent of his friendship with Epstein, Starmer says he had no reason to believe he was telling lies.
He says:
What we learnt this week is the further deceit that has been carried out in relation to government secrets that were released during the course of the recovery of the 2008 crash.
Responding to a question from The Guardian’s Kiran Stacey about the deluge of criticism he has received from Labour MPs, Starmer says:
Look, I understand the anger and frustration amongst the Labour MPs about what has happened; the deceit both in the appointment of Mandelson as ambassador and what happened at the tail-end of the last Labour government.
I actually share that frustration. It was palpable yesterday. I’m not surprised.
When asked by the i Paper whether his message to his own MPs sceptical about his leadership is that removing him would make a Reform government more likely, Starmer responded:
My message is that every minute we spend talking about anything other than the cost of living, Pride in Place, how we stabilise our economy … that we must unite this country, understand that to be British is to be tolerant, reasonable, compassionate and diverse, and fight for it against the toxic division of Reform, every minute we spend not talking and focusing on that is an absolute minute wasted.
Starmer has just been asked explicitly whether he would contest a leadership challenge within his party.
Responding to ITV’s Robert Peston, the prime minister says he was elected in 2024 “to change the country for the better, and that is what we are doing”.
He references inflation coming down, interest rates being cut six times and the government’s work to lift 500,000 children out of poverty.
He adds:
Am I frustrated that the focus is not on that and on other things because of the misbehaviour and deceit of other people? Of course I am.
I was lied to, I was lied to. Deceit.
Starmer says he is angry and frustrated that it will be the Mandelson scandal on tomorrow’s front pages rather than the Pride in Place programme.
Asked by Sky’s Beth Rigby about the anger among Labour MPs over the scandal, Starmer says he understands their frustration.
He adds that he had hoped to be able to provide information about what Mandelson had been asked and answered at the time of his appointment at PMQs.
He says:
Nobody wants to see these deceits in public life. They are angry about his association with Epstein, as am I.
They’re angry about what he did at the tail-end of the last Labour government and frustrated – as am I – that the full information of what was asked and answered when he was appointed cannot be in the public domain.
That is frustrating as I had hoped to deploy some of that at PMQs yesterday as I wanted people to see what had been said.
Starmer is now taking questions and tells the BBC’s Chris Mason that he regrets the decision to have appointed Mandelson as an ambassador.
He said: “What I meant was it has been known publicly for some time that they knew each other and that is precisely why … we asked questions about the nature and extent of that relationship.
“What I didn’t say yesterday – partly inhibited by the approach of the police – is that is precisely why those questions were asked.”
He added: “I regret making the decision to have appointed him in the first place. Had I known at the time what I know now, or I knew in September, I’d have never done it.”
Questioned about his own future as prime minister, he says: “We’re moving forward as a country.”
Starmer: ‘I understand the strength of public feeling’
Starmer said he wanted to release the files relating to his appointment of Mandelson yesterday and to talk about it at PMQs, but police advised that doing so could risk prejudicing a future investigation or legal process.
He said:
I understand the strength of public feeling, I share the anger that people feel when powerful individuals appear to escape scrutiny. I want to be able to release those documents as quickly as possible.
He later added that the issue is not, and should never become, a “political football”.
Starmer: ‘Mandelson portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew’
Starmer spoke more about what Mandelson told him before he was appointed as US ambassador:
Before he was appointed ambassador, Mandelson was asked directly about the nature of his relationship with Epstein. He was asked whether he had stayed at Epstein’s after his conviction, and when, later, further information came to light, he was asked whether he had accepted gifts and hospitality, about whether he had been fully transparent about the relationship. The information now available makes clear that the answers he gave were lies.
He portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew, and when it became clear that it was not true, I sacked him.
Starmer: ‘None of us knew depth and darkness of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein’
Starmer has addressed the fallout from the Epstein scandal during a speech this morning in Hasting, East Sussex. He said that while Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was publicly known, “none of us knew the depth and darkness” of it.
He said:
Serious allegations and serious evidence has emerged concerning Mandelson’s conduct, including his relationship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender. It had been publicly known for some time that Mandelson knew Epstein, but none of us knew the depth or the darkness of that relationship. Information that was not known at the time of his appointment [as US ambassador].
He apologised to Epstein’s victims, saying:
“I want to say this. I am 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 appointed him and sorry that even now you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again.
Starmer about to take questions following speech in East Sussex
Prime minister Keir Starmer will be taking questions imminently following a speech he is giving this morning in Hastings, East Sussex.
He is talking about the government’s Pride in Place programme but I suspect the vast majority of questions will be about Mandeleson.
Stay tuned as we bring you the top news lines…
Karl Turner, the Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull East, said the mood among backbenchers was the angriest he’d seen in 16 years and that Starmer had to sack McSweeney as chief of staff in order to survive the fury of his party.
He told Times Radio:
If the prime minister decides that he has to be surrounded by advisers who give him shoddy advice, I think the reality of that will end in the prime minister having to be making a decision about his future at some point soon.
I don’t want to be telling the PM who he’s entitled to have an as adviser … If McSweeney continues in No 10 Downing Street, I think the PM is up against it in a way that he doesn’t need to be.