British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he did not know the “depth and darkness” of the relationship Peter Mandelson had with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before he appointed him as ambassador to the US.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lord Mandelson lost his ambassadorship in September, after the release of some of the Epstein files.<\/p>\n
He resigned from the British Labour Party on Monday, following further revelations about his relationship with the convicted sex-offender.<\/p>\n
Former UK diplomat says he did not know about Epstein abuse<\/a><\/p>\n Peter Mandelson who was fired as the UK’s ambassador in Washington DC over his ties to the convicted sex offender last year.<\/p>\n Mr Starmer apologised to Epstein’s victims and said that he regretted the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson to such an important position in December 2024.<\/p>\n It was public knowledge before he was appointed to the role of ambassador that Lord Mandelson had a relationship with Epstein.<\/p>\n Mr Starmer said that, when he asked Lord Mandelson questions about the nature of his relationship with Epstein, the former Labour strategist lied.<\/p>\n “None of us knew the depth and darkness that relationship,” he said.<\/p>\n “He portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew, and when it became clear that was not true, I sacked him.”<\/p>\n Starmer under pressure<\/p>\n Bank records released by US authorities last week appear to show that in 2009, Lord Mandelson, who was then UK business secretary, forwarded an economic briefing to Epstein intended for then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr Starmer’s leadership is under increasing pressure amid the scandal and he has been asked to release the vetting advice he received when Lord Mandelson was being considered as ambassador.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I understand the strength of public anger, I want to be able to release those documents as quickly as possible, I wanted to release them yesterday,” he said.<\/p>\n “But police advised that releasing them now could jeopardise an investigation.”<\/p>\n