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Sir Keir Starmer has refrained from confirming whether he engaged in discussions with Peter Mandelson concerning the latter’s links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein prior to appointing Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the United States. During a session in the House of Commons, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch persistently questioned Starmer about this issue. However, the prime minister chose not to clarify if such a conversation took place, instead issuing an apology over the appointment and criticising Badenoch’s position on Iran.
Badenoch criticized Starmer for delegating decision-making authority to his staff and for not being transparent with Members of Parliament. This scrutiny follows the release of documents last week that indicated the prime minister had been warned about the reputational risks posed by Lord Mandelson’s association with Epstein. The initial 147 pages made public came after MPs voted to have files related to Mandelson’s appointment disclosed. Among the released documents was a 2019 report commissioned by US bank JP Morgan, which highlighted Epstein’s apparently close relationship with Lord Mandelson and noted that Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s residence while Epstein was incarcerated in June 2009.
Lord Mandelson was removed from his ambassadorial post last September after new information about his friendship with Epstein came to light. The prime minister previously stated that he was unaware of the full extent of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein at the time of the appointment. The publication of additional Epstein-related files in the US earlier this year triggered a leadership crisis for Starmer and led to the resignation of his key aide, Morgan McSweeney. Mandelson maintains that he never misled the prime minister, recalling no face-to-face questions during vetting on his Epstein links but affirming that he answered written inquiries truthfully after Epstein’s conviction.
Reports indicate that Starmer did not directly speak to Mandelson before appointing him. Instead, he delegated the task of questioning Mandelson about Epstein to his then chief of staff, McSweeney. Badenoch used the Prime Minister’s Questions forum to press Starmer on his approach, accusing him of dodging scrutiny by timing the release of the documents. Starmer acknowledged his error in the appointment and apologized, emphasizing that the process was reviewed by an independent adviser who found weaknesses that have since been addressed. When pressed further, the prime minister criticized Conservative shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy for his inflammatory remarks about Muslims, urging that Timothy be dismissed for his “appalling” comments. A No 10 spokesperson confirmed that the appointment process had been followed and noted that no formal interview with the prime minister was required
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