Starmer apologizes to Epstein's victims and clings to his position amid the Mandelson scandal
The Labour Party corners the British Prime Minister for appointing a friend of the pedophile as ambassador to Washington
LondonKeir Starmer is fighting for his political survival. The shockwave of Epstein case ha explosion in the heart of Westminster this week And in a speech in south London this Thursday, premier He has apologized to the victims of the pedophile for appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington in early 2025. The appointment came when there was already ample evidence that this stalwart of British politics maintained his friendship with the financier, even after his 2009 conviction for prostitution.
"I am sorry," Starmer said, addressing the victims, "for what was done to you, for so many powerful people failing you, for believing Mandelson's lies and appointing him, and for you still being forced to relive this story in public today." premier He preferred to be seen as a naive fool who didn't understand anything rather than a cynic.
Mandelson's selection was made with full knowledge of his ability to operate behind the scenes, an attitude he has maintained throughout a political career that began in the mid-80s, and which Downing Street considered essential for navigating the turbulent waters of Donald Trump's Washington.
The documents released Friday by the Justice Department The revelations from the United States regarding the Epstein case have gone far beyond what was previously known and even beyond what almost anyone could have imagined. They have shown that Peter Mandelson shared confidential information with Epstein when he was Minister of Business in Gordon Brown's government (2009) and Deputy Prime Minister. de factoand that both he and his husband received several payments from the billionaire. Furthermore, Mandelson is an advisor to a consultancy firm that has brokered business deals between the British Ministry of Defence and Palantir Technologies, an American software company specializing in analytics. big dataAI integration and surveillance, which It serves government intelligence, military, and commercial clients.Police are now investigating Mandelson's leaks as a possible breach of confidentiality. Starmer dismissed him last September. Mandelson, who maintains his innocence, resigned his seat in the House of Lords yesterday. Meanwhile, the government will introduce legislation. ad hoc to strip him of his title of lord.
Party pressure
Cornered by the press and pressure from his own party, which yesterday forced the House of Commons to release all documents related to Mandelson's appointment, Starmer attempted during his speech to justify what many around him consider unjustifiable. He expressed his frustration and anger at the lies of the veteran politician—the architect of New Labour and known in the UK as the prince of darkness—at the time of choosing the top British diplomatic representative to the White House. "The information we have now makes it clear that the answers he gave were lies," Starmer insisted. According to the version of premierBefore being appointed, Mandelson said of Epstein that he was someone "he barely knew." When it became clear that this was a lie, he was dismissed. Mandelson had even stayed in Epstein's New York apartment and had visited his Caribbean island many times. Starmer has justified himself by saying that at the time of the appointment to the Washington post, he "had no reason to think that he wasn't telling the truth."
The pressure isn't only coming from the opposition. Within the Labour Party, voices that consider the position of premier "Untenable" rumors are starting to surface publicly. Starmer has refused to discuss a possible resignation and has clung to his 2024 term. But the truth is that by-elections at the end of February, and the elections in Wales, Scotland, and local elections in England on May 7, could mean his downfall if, as the polls predict, the enthusiasm especially in Waleswhere the nationalists and Nigel Farage's Reform Party are vying for a historic victory.
Mandelson's room for maneuver within British politics has been, until now, enormous, although on two occasions he had to leave the government. During Jeremy Corbyn's tenure as Labour leader (2015-2019), the prince of darkness It undermined the power of the party leader, Corbyn, to the point of preferring a Conservative victory to one on the left wing of the party. Starmer's appointment to the Washington embassy is attributed to his chief of staff at Downing Street, the Irish political analyst Morgan McSweeney, whom the British press said on Thursday "doesn't breathe without Mandelson's permission."