U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologized to the victims of the late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein over his decision to appoint Lord Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador.
A Thursday speech meant to highlight Starmer’s vision for the Labour Party was consumed by the scandal, as members of his party began to voice disillusionment. In his speech and in his answers to questions afterwards, Starmer issued another apology to the victims, vowed transparency, and pledged to put in place procedures to prevent another such lapse.
“I am sorry for what was done to you, sorry so many people in power failed … sorry for believing Mandelson’s lies and appointing him,” Starmer said.
In explaining why he appointed Mandelson despite knowing of his ties to Epstein, the prime minister said he was lied to about the extent of those connections.
“I was lied to. Deceit. Am I frustrated and angry that the good work we are doing gets out of focus because of that? Of course I am,” he said.
Though he expressed regret over the decision, Stamer maintained that he had “no reason at the time to know they were lies, subsequently I found they were lies.”
“Clearly, both the due diligence and the security vetting need to be looked at again,” he said.
The prime minister said he would release the documents related to Mandelson’s appointment as soon as possible, but that police were preventing some releases due to an active investigation.
Already facing abysmal approval ratings, Starmer’s whole premiership is in crisis over a groundswell of outrage in response to new revelations about Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein. Labour ministers in Parliament have begun openly voicing their anger at Starmer. Labour MP Karl Turner told Times Radio that the situation within the party was the angriest he had witnessed in his 16-year tenure.
Labour MP Paula Barker said she was “sickened” by Starmer’s admission that he knew about the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein when he appointed him as U.S. ambassador last February.
Though Mandelson resigned in September after his continued relationship with Epstein after his conviction for sex crimes was revealed, attention has exploded once again after the extent of their relationship was exposed in the last batch of Epstein files.
Among the newest revelations was that Mendelson passed on government documents to Epstein during his role as a Cabinet minister, that he wired $75,000 to Epstein through his longtime partner, and even gave Epstein advanced knowledge of major geopolitical events, such as the €500 billion Eurozone bailout.
The London Metropolitan Police opened a criminal investigation into Mandelson on Tuesday.
