Sir Keir Starmer tells nation ‘I’m sorry’ as calls mount for PM to give up
Sir Keir Starmer has told the nation that he was “sorry” following the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal as pressure grows on him to resign.
The Prime Minster said no-one knew the “depth and darkness” of the relationship between Lord Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein.
He said Lord Mandelson was asked directly about the nature of his relationship with Epstein, and it is “clear that the answers he gave were lies”.
Speaking at an event in East Sussex, Starmer said: “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.”
He said they had seen accountability “delayed and too often denied”.
“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.”
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