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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologized to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday and said he was sorry for having appointed Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador, who was a close friend of the late sex offender.
Starmer said he had not known about the strength of the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein when he appointed him to the role in December 2024, accusing the longtime Labour politician of lying about his ties.
“I am sorry, sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him and sorry that even now you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again,” he said.
Starmer has previously said he will release the vetting advice he was given when he selected Mandelson for the Washington role, but on Thursday he said he also needed to abide by a police request not to release anything that could prejudice an investigation. There are allegations Mandelson, 72, shared sensitive government data with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019, shortly after a federal indictment in the U.S.
“It had been publicly known for some time that Mandelson knew Epstein, but none of us knew the depth and the darkness of that relationship,” Starmer told reporters.
Starmer, in response to reporter questions, said he did not feel his own mistake was grounds for standing down as prime minister.
“I understand the anger and frustration,” he said. “I’m angry.”
British police have launched an investigation into Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the U.S., over alleged misconduct in public office following claims that he leaked sensitive information to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson has also retired from Parliament’s upper house, the House of Lords, over the Epstein scandal.
‘Who advised the prime minister?’
Mandelson has been among the large number of public figures whose names have appeared in two massive releases of files since December by the U.S. Justice Department related to Epstein investigations. Current President Donald Trump, former president Bill Clinton and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Space X, appear in the files, either in correspondence with Epstein or in photographs.
Appearing in the files does not constitute criminal wrongdoing, but has left many with uncomfortable questions about their associations with Epstein. Mandelson has denied knowing about the extent of Epstein’s personal life — in which dozens of women have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking — but his relationship with Epstein continued well past the American’s conviction in 2008 in Florida on charges of solicitation of prostitution and of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18.
In the recent Epstein release, emails suggest that in 2009, Mandelson sent Epstein a memo written for Brown about possible U.K. asset sales and tax changes, and in 2010 gave the American advance notice of a European Union decision.
Mandelson this week resigned from both his party and the House of Lords.
Labour lawmaker Clive Efford, speaking in Parliament on Monday, said, “The key question here is who advised the prime minister?”
Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch of the Conservatives, speaking shortly after Starmer did, accused the prime minister of hiding behind the police probe to refrain from providing hard answers on how the vetting process of Mandelson failed.
“They’re trying to put it all on Peter Mandelson. It’s not all on Peter Mandelson,” said Badenoch. As an aside, Badenoch pointed out that Nigel Farage — whose Reform Party has been gaining on both Conservatives and Labour in the polls — is mentioned numerous times in the Epstein-related files.
Starmer nominated Mandelson to the post in December 2024. Mandelson was first elected as MP in 1992 and served in a variety of posts in the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, eventually obtaining peerage in the House of Lords.
Mandelson was sacked from his ambassador post last September. In that instance, emails were published in the British media showing that Mandelson had advised Epstein to fight for early release when he faced charges over soliciting a minor. The ministry said at the time the revelation of Mandelson’s suggestion that Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged was “new information.”
In addition, Bloomberg News reported around the same time that a letter purportedly from Mandelson describing Epstein as “my best pal” was included in a so-called birthday book arranged by Ghislaine Maxwell, the Epstein friend and accomplice now serving a federal prison sentence.
The latest batch of Epstein files include multiple emails with Sarah Ferguson, the former duchess of York. The documents do not include evidence of anything illegal, but showed her extensive relationship with the convicted sex offender.
Mandelson said last year he felt a “profound sense of sympathy for those people, those women who suffered as a result of his behaviour and his illegal criminal activities.”
“I feel a tremendous sense of regret not only that I met him in the first place, but that I continued the association and I took at face value the lies that he fed me and many others,” he said, describing Epstein as a “charismatic criminal liar.”
Those statements seemed to satisfy Starmer, who later in Parliament gave him his backing.
Asked by a British reporter about Mandelson’s resignation, Trump on Tuesday said “it’s too bad,” before launching a freewheeling answer where he sought to downplay his own ties to Epstein, blaming Democrats for what he characterized as a distraction from his administration’s accomplishments.
