Already-struggling UK Leader Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure to step down over the latest scandal involving his former ambassador to America’s shocking close links to Jeffrey Epstein.
The prime minister, whose popularity was already at a near-record low since his 2024 election, faced revolt even from his own party over the fresh revelations about former diplomat Peter Mandelson, who was even seen in his underwear with an unknown woman in photos in the latest Epstein files.
Starmer went into a desperate damage-control mode Thursday, accusing his one-time close ally of “deceit” — even though Mandelson’s friendship with the now-deceased pedophile was well known when Starmer gave him the cushy role as the UK’s ambassador to Washington in December 2024.
“I was lied to, lied to,” Starmer said — while conceding that he knew Mandelson was still close with Epstein after he was convicted of sex offenses in 2008.
“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 appointing him,” Starmer said in a groveling apology to Epstein’s victims.
“None of us knew the depth and the darkness of that relationship,” Starmer insisted, saying he was also filled with “anger and frustration” at the escalating revelations of the close ties, which seemingly involved the once-powerful minister leaking government documents to the perverted moneyman.
Nigel Farage — whose anti-immigration Reform UK party is currently leading in the polls — called the Mandelson controversy the “biggest scandal” in British politics for over 100 years.
Members of Starmer’s own Labour Party have also gone on the attack, with one Welsh Labour MP telling the BBC: “Starmer has to go.”
“I’m personally not sure I could trust myself to back the prime minister in a confidence vote,” another MP told the Guardian.
A former minister warned that the scandal was enough to take down the party, urging Labour leaders to drop Starmer.
“It’s time for a fresh start, the sooner the better,” the former minister told the Guardian
Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said that Starmer was “essentially a boxer on the ropes.”
“His administration could fall over tomorrow, or it could stagger on for months or even years. (But) his authority is seriously shot,” Ford said.
He speculated that “whenever the moment comes when Starmer does finally leave, either of his own volition or because his MPs oust him … It will all be traced back to appointing Peter Mandelson.”
The rebellion comes at a tumultuous time for Starmer’s party, which is trailing in the polls at 18%, its lowest point since the 2024 general election, according to pollster Survation.
The populist Reform UK party — previously never a serious contender — leads at 31%, with the Conservative Party at 20%, spelling even more trouble for Starmer.
The UK’s borrowing costs also rose on Thursday as concerns grew on whether Starmer could survive the latest controversy.
As well as blaming Mandelson, Starmer said he also reached out to police to release video of the security vetting process for the one-time ambassador, which he suggested would absolve him.
Mandelson, who was fired last September following a previous batch of document release, has reappeared in the latest Epstein documents released by the Department of Justice last week.
The new records appeared to show that Mandelson had leaked government documents to Epstein in 2009 that would have helped the disgraced New York financier make profitable insider trades.
It has also emerged that Epstein sent $75,000 directly to Mandelson, with recorded payments listed to the British diplomat and his then-partner, now husband.
Along with the financial records, images were also released of Mandelson in his underwear and a shirt next to a woman in a bathrobe.
Following the release of the new documents, Mandelson, a government minister, quit his position in parliament’s upper chamber, with police opening an investigation against him for alleged misconduct in office.
With Post wires
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