LONDON
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced mounting pressure Thursday after acknowledging that he was aware of former Cabinet Minister Peter Mandelson’s friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when he appointed Mandelson last year to a top-tier diplomatic post.
During the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Starmer admitted that for the first time, he knew about Mandelson’s longer-term relationship with Epstein, who died in 2019, before appointing him ambassador to the US.
Pressed by lawmakers, Starmer said Mandelson had "lied repeatedly" about the extent of his contact with the convicted sex offender and also "betrayed our country" in his dealings with Epstein.
Starmer has faced a backlash from politicians, including from inside his Labour Party, as some say the release of documents related to Mandelson’s appointment may be delayed by a police investigation into him, and so could trigger a leadership challenge.
"We need all the poison to come out," one unnamed lawmaker told The Guardian.
Separately, an unnamed former Cabinet minister said, "We’ve had a lot of bad days recently, but this is the worst yet, I think,” while another lawmaker warned that trust is "finite," but added: "I’m personally not sure I could trust myself to back the prime minister in a confidence vote."
"The most terminal mood is among the super-loyal," one MP was quoted by the British daily as saying.
Another lawmaker who had previously been close to Starmer said: "You could feel the atmosphere change; it was dark."
However, the prime minister's office said that Starmer was only aware of what was already in the public domain.
Another Labour Party lawmaker called this argument "indefensible," adding: "They knew all about Peter’s relationship with Epstein but gave him the job anyway."
- 'There could be a lot of red faces and departures
Mandelson was named British ambassador to the US last Feb. 10 but then he was sacked by Starmer on Sept. 11 after emails revealed that Mandelson, who held senior roles in the governments of former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, sent messages of support to Epstein even as the financier was facing jail time for sex offenses in 2008.
According to the report, several lawmakers said Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who had been close to Mandelson, should take responsibility for the failures and resign.
"The government is on the run ... goodness knows what will come out – there could be a lot of red faces and departures off the back of it," said another lawmaker.
Late Wednesday, London’s Metropolitan police said they had blocked the release of certain documents in case they prejudiced a criminal investigation in Mandelson’s apparent sharing of confidential government documents with Epstein.
Labour MP John McDonnell asked why Labour leadership had not challenged Starmer's judgment and behaviour over Mandelson at the time of his appointment.
"In December 2024 I warned people would think Keir has lost all sense of judgment appointing Mandelson. Where were the senior party figures? Why weren’t they standing up, speaking out," he wrote on US social media company X.
McDonnell added: "This is about more than Keir’s judgement, it’s a collective failure of all Labour leadership."
He went on to say that simply replacing Starmer with someone who stayed silent at the critical time "won’t restore confidence" in the party or politics.
Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey recalled his question to Starmer last September over why he kept backing Mandelson despite his Epstein links, and what leverage the Trump administration might have over him.
"Instead of answering, he waved it away," he said on X.
But Housing Secretary Steve Reed told the BBC that "of course" Starmer's position is secure, adding that he acted with "decisiveness and integrity" when removing Mandelson.
- Police launch criminal probe
UK police announced Tuesday that they have launched a criminal investigation into Mandelson following claims that he leaked government emails to Epstein.
The move after the British government on Tuesday referred material to the police after an initial review of Mandelson’s emails to Epstein.
Emails released Friday in the US revealed that Mandelson forwarded internal government information to Epstein while serving as business secretary in 2009.
Mandelson also stepped down from the House of Lords on Wednesday amid ongoing pressure over his links to Epstein.
The latest release of files also prompted Mandelson to resign on Sunday from the Labour Party.
The US Justice Department recently released more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images related to Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last November.
The materials include photos, grand jury transcripts, and investigative records, though many pages remain heavily redacted. Epstein survivors and victims’ relatives say the release falls short of what the law requires, and omitted much vital information.
Epstein was found dead by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
