Keir Starmer apologises to victims of Jeffrey Epstein

{"text":[[{"start":14.13,"text":"Sir Keir Starmer has apologised to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US, as he sought to defuse Labour anger over his handling of the scandal."}],[{"start":28.58,"text":"“None of us knew the depth and darkness of that relationship,” Starmer said, as a growing number of Labour MPs said the UK prime minister’s time in Number 10 was coming to an end."}],[{"start":42.42,"text":"“He will limp on a while longer towards an unedifying end that is getting ever closer,” said one minister, although Labour MPs seemed unsure exactly when or how they might seek to oust the prime minister."}],[{"start":58.900000000000006,"text":"Starmer is under pressure following his admission that he sent Mandelson to Washington in February 2025 despite knowing the peer had continued his friendship with Epstein after the disgraced financier had been jailed for child sex crimes."}],[{"start":76.98,"text":"But on Thursday Starmer insisted he was not about to quit. “I was elected to bring about change for millions of people and that’s what I intend to do,” Starmer said after giving a speech in East Sussex on regional development. "}],[{"start":92.52000000000001,"text":"In an attempt to calm the row, Starmer said in his speech to Epstein’s victims: “I am sorry for what was done to you, sorry so many people in power failed you, sorry for believing Mandelson’s lies and appointing him.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":108.12,"text":"The relationship between Epstein and Mandelson was previously known and Starmer said: “When we were going through the employment process, we asked questions about the nature and extent of that relationship.”"}],[{"start":121.96000000000001,"text":"He said the answers given to those questions “were intentionally intended to create the impression that Mandelson barely knew Epstein”. "}],[{"start":132.64000000000001,"text":"Starmer hopes to release documents to support his claim that Mandelson “lied” about his ties to Epstein, but that is being delayed because of police concerns it could prejudice a criminal investigation into the affair."}],[{"start":146.43,"text":"A Downing Street insider said it was unlikely any files would be released this week. The Metropolitan Police is investigating allegations of misconduct in public office relating to Mandelson passing sensitive documents to Epstein in 2009, when he was Labour business secretary."}],[{"start":167.67000000000002,"text":"Meanwhile the Intelligence and Security Committee wrote to Starmer on Thursday saying it expected the government to separate out a “limited number” of files relating to Mandelson’s vetting and appointment which it deemed may threaten national security or international relations."}],[{"start":185.9,"text":"Otherwise, it made clear that it expected the government would “very shortly” be laying before the House all of the remaining papers."}],[{"start":194,"text":"Starmer said he asked Mandelson whether he had stayed in Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2009 — a visit first revealed by the FT in 2023 — while the financier was in jail. "}],[{"start":208.18,"text":"But crucially Starmer did not tell journalists what Mandelson said in reply or whether he pushed him on the subject. “When he provided answers I had no reason to believe he was telling anything other than the truth,” he said."}],[{"start":223.17000000000002,"text":"Labour peer Lord Maurice Glasman in January 2025 warned Number 10 it was making a mistake by appointing Mandelson in a memo sent to Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney."}],[{"start":237.56,"text":"Glasman sent the memo, seen by the FT, after attending Donald Trump’s inauguration. Starmer had announced his selection of Mandelson the previous month."}],[{"start":247.59,"text":"“The vast majority of people I met . . . consider our appointment of Peter Mandelson an unnecessary provocation. Several people showed me a photograph of him blowing out the birthday candles with Jeffrey Epstein,” Glasman wrote. “Withdraw Peter Mandelson. He is the wrong man at the wrong time in the wrong place.”"}],[{"start":269.22,"text":"Emails published over the weekend by the US Department of Justice show Mandelson passed UK government documents and market-sensitive information to Epstein, from whom he had previously taken $75,000, while he was a cabinet minister under Gordon Brown."}],[{"start":288.11,"text":"Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a House of Commons vote of no confidence in Starmer, branding his premiership “untenable” and arguing it is a question of “when, not if, he goes”. "}],[{"start":301.95,"text":"At a separate Bank of England press conference, governor Andrew Bailey said he had been “shocked” by revelations of Mandelson’s dealings with Epstein during the global financial crisis. "}],[{"start":315.47999999999996,"text":"Several Labour MPs and peers have broken cover to argue the deepening row could spell the end of Starmer’s premiership."}],[{"start":324.22999999999996,"text":"Both the pound and gilts came under pressure as investors worried about the potential for a more leftwing government to increase public borrowing."}],[{"start":333.96999999999997,"text":"The revelations about the extent of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, who was found dead in a New York jail cell in 2019, have raised fresh questions about the prime minister’s political judgment and that of McSweeney."}],[{"start":347.65999999999997,"text":"Widely seen as the architect of the Starmer project, McSweeney promoted Mandelson’s push for the top diplomatic role and lobbied in vain for the peer not to be sacked from the post last year. "}],[{"start":360.84999999999997,"text":"Additional reporting by Delphine Strauss in London"}],[{"start":373.41999999999996,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1770341849_8985.mp3"}