{"id":408157,"date":"2026-02-04T22:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T22:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/408157\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T22:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T22:16:07","slug":"pm-says-he-knew-when-giving-mandelson-us-job-he-had-kept-ties-with-epstein-after-conviction-peter-mandelson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/408157\/","title":{"rendered":"PM says he knew when giving Mandelson US job he had kept ties with Epstein after conviction | Peter Mandelson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keir Starmer has confirmed for the first time he knew about Peter Mandelson\u2019s longer-term relationship with Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> before appointing him US ambassador, saying the former peer had \u201clied repeatedly\u201d about the extent of his contact with the child sex offender.<\/p>\n

Questioned repeatedly at prime minister\u2019s questions, Starmer said Mandelson had \u201cbetrayed our country\u201d in his dealings with Epstein.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe lied repeatedly to my team, when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador,\u201d the prime minister said. \u201cI regret appointing him. If I knew then what I know now, he would never been anywhere near government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saying Mandelson was being investigated by police<\/a> over his apparent leaking of market-sensitive information and Downing Street emails to Epstein while serving in Gordon Brown\u2019s government, Starmer said the former caibinet minister had been removed as a privy councillor and there were also moves to strip him of his title.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThis morning, I have agreed with his majesty the king that Mandelson should be removed from the list of privy councillors on grounds that he brought the reputation of the privy council into disrepute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior ministers are routinely made members of the privy council, a historical body that used to advise the monarch, and remain so for life.<\/p>\n

Saying his thoughts were with Epstein\u2019s victims, Starmer added: \u201cCan I also say our thoughts are with all those who lost jobs, savings and livelihoods in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash. To learn that there was a cabinet minister leaking sensitive information at the height of the response to the 2008 crash is beyond infuriating, and I\u2019m as angry as the public and any member of this house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mandelson, he said, had \u201cbetrayed our country, our parliament and my party\u201d.<\/p>\n

Questioned repeatedly by Kemi Badenoch<\/a>, the Conservative leader, about what he knew regarding Mandelson\u2019s ties to Epstein before appointing the peer US ambassador, Starmer acknowledged he knew \u2013 as had been reported in the media \u2013 that Mandelson and Epstein were in contact after the disgraced financier\u2019s 2008 jail term for child sex offences.<\/p>\n

Badenoch asked: \u201cCan the prime minister tell us, did the official security vetting he received mention Mandelson\u2019s ongoing relationship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein?\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer replied: \u201cYes, it did. As a result, various questions were put to him.\u201d Mandelson had responded with lies, he said.<\/p>\n

The Conservatives are seeking to force the release of official documents about Mandelson\u2019s appointment, using an opposition-day debate later on Wednesday. The government has offered to do this<\/a> in a more limited way, tabling an amendment to the Tory motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure this house sees the full documentation, so it will see for itself the extent to which, time and time again, Mandelson completely misrepresented the extent of his relationship with Epstein, and lied throughout the process, including in response to the due diligence,\u201d Starmer said.<\/p>\n

It was, however, vital to first remove documents that related to national security or could jeopardise international relations, he said.<\/p>\n

Badenoch accused the prime minister of using national security as \u201ca red herring\u201d, saying the Tory motion would also take account of national security. She added: \u201cThe national security issue was appointing Mandelson.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went on to criticise Morgan McSweeney, Starmer\u2019s chief of staff, who is seen as having been instrumental in pushing for Mandelson to get the Washington role, asking if Starmer still had confidence in him.<\/p>\n

Starmer said: \u201cMorgan McSweeney is an essential part of my team. He helped me change the Labour<\/a> party and win an election. Of course, I have confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan police said they had formally launched a criminal investigation into the claims that Mandelson leaked market-sensitive information, after documents from the Epstein files appeared to show the then business secretary sent confidential details of internal discussions in the aftermath of the financial crash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The revelations have prompted a furious backlash from across the political spectrum, including from Brown, prime minister at the time of the alleged breaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer has confirmed for the first time he knew about Peter Mandelson\u2019s longer-term relationship with Jeffrey Epstein…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-408157","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}