Keir Starmer ‘sorry’ to Epstein victims as he provides Mandelson police warning

On Feb 5, 2026

At the start of a major speech today, the Prime Minister confronted the scandal and said Lord Mandelson had lied to him about the extent of his ties to the convicted paedophile

12:49, 05 Feb 2026

Keir Starmer has issued an apology to victims of billionaire predator Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador and believing his lies.

At the start of a major speech today, the Prime Minister confronted the scandal, and said Lord Mandelson had lied to him about the extent of his ties to the convicted paedophile. He said the Labour veteran’s friendship with Epstein had been known at the time to the plum job in Washington – but no one knew the “depths and darkness” of the relationship.

“It has been publicly known for some time that Mandelson knew Epstein, but none of us knew the depth of the darkness of that relationship,” Mr Starmer said.

The PM said: “The information now available makes clear that the answers he gave were lies. He portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew. And when that became clear and it was not true, I sacked him. Such deceit is incompatible with public service.”

He then apologised to the predator’s victims, saying: “The victims of Epstein have lived with trauma that most of us can barely comprehend, and they’ve had to relive it again and again. I want to say this: 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.

“But I also want to say this: in this country, we will not look away, we will not shrug our shoulders, and we will not allow the powerful to treat justice as optional. We will pursue the truth. We will uphold the integrity of public life, and we will do everything within our power and in the interests of justice to ensure accountability is delivered. That is what the public expects. That is what the victims deserve, and it is what I will do.”

His remarks came after yesterday’s drama in the Commons as Mr Starmer insisted at PMQs the sacked ambassador repeatedly lied about his friendship with Epstein during the vetting process.

Downing Street was battling to contain the scandal amid a backlash over a slew of fresh revelations about the Labour veteran since the latest release of the so-called Epstein files by the US Department of Justice on Friday evening. The PM was forced into a climbdown by MPs, led by Angela Rayner, over the release of files about Lord Mandelson’s appointment.

Lord Mandelson, who resigned from the House of Lords on Tuesday, is also facing a Metropolitan Police criminal investigation.

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Mr Starmer stressed today he understood and shared his MPs’ “anger and frustration” as some publicly questioned his position. He said: “Let me say I understand their anger and frustration. I am angry and frustrated like them, because nobody wants to see these deceits in public life. They are angry about his association with Epstein, as am I.

“They’re angry about what he did at the tail end of the last Labour government, and frustrated, as am I, that the full information of what was asked and answered when he was appointed can’t be in the public domain.” But he said every minute not spent talking about the cost of living and fighting against the “toxic division of Reform” is a minute wasted.

Asked by reporters if his argument against removing him as PM is that it would make a Reform government more likely, Mr Starmer said: “My message is that every minute we spent talking about anything other than the cost of living, pride in place, how we stabilise our economy and how we make the massive argument we need to make: that we must unite this country, understand that to be British is to be tolerant, reasonable, compassionate and diverse, and fight for it against the toxic division of Reform. Every minute we spend not talking and focusing on that is an absolute minute wasted.”