Epstein files latest: Starmer claims Mandelson ‘lied repeatedly’ during vetting for US ambassador role in PMQs showdown

Sir Keir Starmer also told MPs that the King and Lord Peter Mandelson had agreed that ‘he should be removed from the list of Privy Advisers on the grounds that he has brought the Preparatory Council into disrepute’.

Keir Starmer claimed that Lord Peter Mandelson ‘betrayed our country’ by leaking information to Jeffrey Epstein and ‘lied repeatedly’ during his appointment as US ambassador.

The Prime Minister said he regretted appointing Mandelson and that if he had known all the details he “wouldn’t have been even close” to the ambassadorship.

His remarks came after Kemi Badenoch asked him if he was aware that Mandelson remained friends with Epstein even after he was convicted of child prostitution.

Our Prime Minister’s Questions live broadcast is now available on our posts.

Downing Street has added a twist to the Conservative Party’s modest address.

According to the House of Commons warrant, No 10 insists that all documents will be published ‘except those that are prejudicial to the national security or international relations of the United Kingdom’.

But Labor MP Andy McDonald told Sky News he would still likely vote Conservative this afternoon.

‘If this amendment were valid on its face, it would be a cover-up of the entire Mandelson affair,’ he said.

‘We can’t let the government do its homework.’

Mr McDonald said the change was ‘nonsense because it was just a way of not disclosing information’.

The Conservatives made a rare ‘humble speech’ to the King last night, demanding the Government release documents relating to Sir Keir’s decision to recall Lord Mandelson to the government.

Modest speeches, if accepted, would be binding on ministers.

The secret parliamentary machinery is being used to force the Government to release documents, including due diligence carried out by the Cabinet Office, emails between the Prime Minister’s private secretary Morgan McSweeney and Lord Mandelson regarding his relationship with Epstein, and minutes of meetings held regarding the appointment.

Kemi Badenoch last night called on Labor MPs to support the motion; It would also force the Government to reveal details of the six-figure earnings given to Lord Mandelson following his dismissal as US ambassador last year.

‘Labour MPs have a clear choice,’ he said.

‘They can either support our efforts to uncover the truth about how and why Peter Mandelson was appointed ambassador to Washington despite his known ties to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein; or they could help Keir Starmer and his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney evade scrutiny over this sordid affair.

It’s a big day for Keir Starmer as he heads to the House of Commons for PMQs.

The Prime Minister is likely to be grilled over his appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington in the wake of the newly released Epstein files.

Starmer has already been grilled by Kemi Badenoch over his decision to appoint Mandelson, and this is sure to escalate further today after documents emerged showing his colleague leaked sensitive information to Epstein while in Gordon Brown’s cabinet.

Democratic Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández told Newsnight she wanted Sir Keir Starmer to encourage Lord Mandelson to testify before the US Congress, adding that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should do the same.

He said:

He needs to encourage her because we don’t have the authority to issue subpoenas.

Congresswoman Leger Fernandez, who chairs the Democratic Women’s Caucus, warned that the United States has not yet received the responsibility that survivors deserve.

He added:

I think there needs to be a reckoning. I don’t think that’s really happened yet, because we know that the Epstein files haven’t been fully disclosed, and we know that this administration, the Trump administration, continues to stonewall and make it harder for survivors to get the justice they seek.

Watch his interview below:

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By Dan Woodland

Peter Mandelson appears to have conspired with Jeffrey Epstein to oust Gordon Brown, who was trying to cling to power in his final months in office.

The disgraced Labor leader appeared to have been scheming with Epstein behind Mr Brown’s back until he left government, often feeding him inside information straight from the heart of Downing Street.

At times, Epstein appeared to encourage Mandelson to step up for the top job himself, despite his Labor Party rank preventing him from becoming Prime Minister.

In one exchange, the pedophile financier appeared to joke that Mandelson should marry Princess Anne and then divorce her, which would effectively end his status as Lord.

At other times, Epstein flouted the idea of ​​a joint leadership bid between his friend and David Miliband, another prominent Blairite and close ally of the Prime Minister.

Lord Mandelson could ‘lose the plot’ because he is ‘in love’ with Jeffrey Epstein, a former minister has claimed.

Shaun Woodward, Northern Ireland Secretary under Gordon Brown, has made the surprising suggestion, admitting it was “difficult to explain” the actions of his long-time friend.

Mr Woodward told BBC Radio 4’s PM program he was ‘absolutely stunned’ by the latest revelations.

‘It’s hard to explain how someone so smart and intelligent could do something that, if (the emails) are right, is anything but that,’ he said.

Asked why Lord Mandelson might have acted the way he did, Mr Woodward said: ‘I want to say that she fell in love with that man and lost the plot.

‘It is very difficult to understand how a senior Cabinet minister would share such information if it is true and these emails are real.’

Cabinet minister Wes Streeting said there was a sense of betrayal about Lord Mandelson’s actions.

He told Times Radio:

You can see the anger from people across the political spectrum and across our country.

I cannot express strongly enough how bitterly this betrayal feels to those of us in the Labor Party who feel personally let down. And I can’t state strongly enough that he felt that his betrayal of two prime ministers, his betrayal of our country, his betrayal of Epstein’s victims, fundamentally betrayed our values ​​and the things that motivate us and the things that got us into politics, which is public service and the national interest, not self-service and personal interest.

Now let’s turn to politics as we approach the PMQs, where the focus will certainly be on Lord Mandelson

Lord Mandelson was approached for comment and, although he has not yet spoken publicly, the BBC said he was understood to have claimed that he had not engaged in criminal conduct and that his actions were not motivated by personal gain.

The BBC reported that Lord Mandelson claimed he sought Jeffrey Epstein’s expertise on matters of national interest before the financial crisis.

The former trade secretary is back on the front lines as Keir Starmer searches for a high-profile name to look after Donald Trump’s White House when he appoints him as the UK’s ambassador to the US in December 2024.

However, he was dismissed last September due to his links to Epstein.

Here’s Richard Eden, Daily Mail’s editor-in-chief, explaining why Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should face a full criminal investigation following the latest publication of the Epstein files.