Keir Starmer today insisted he did not know about Lord Mandelson’s emails to Jeffrey Epstein before defending him at PMQs.
Finally breaking his silence since sacking the US ambassador last week, the premier struggled to address questions about what he knew and when.
He admitted he would never have appointed Lord Mandelson had he been aware of his messages to the notorious paedophile.
But critics have been claiming there are gaps in the government’s account – and Sir Keir was sideswiped with another scandal this afternoon as one of his most senior aides quit over historical leaked lewd WhatsApps about Diane Abbott.
Asked whether he had been briefed before his weekly showdown with Kemi Badenoch, Sir Keir told broadcasters: ‘It was only on Wednesday, early evening, that I knew the contents of the Bloomberg emails.
Keir Starmer today insisted he did not know about Lord Mandelson’s emails to Jeffrey Epstein before defending him at PMQs
Pictured: Lord Mandelson (left) in a fluffy white dressing gown enjoying a chat with Epstein (right)
‘It was only very late on Wednesday when Peter Mandelson replied to the questions that have been put to him by Government officials.
‘And it was on that, basically, I took my decision that he should be removed.
‘What I knew before PMQs was that there had been media enquiries. I didn’t know the content of the Bloomberg emails, and I knew that questions had been put to Peter that he had not yet answered, and he hadn’t answered them by the time I got to PMQs, there is, of course, a time lag in America, but I knew that there were questions that have been put to him, but I didn’t know what answers he was going to give to those questions.
‘That came later on Wednesday, and that’s why, at that point, I gave the answer I did at PMQs. And that’s the extent of what I knew at the time.’
Sir Keir gave public backing to Lord Mandelson at PMQs on Wednesday only to sack him the following day after the publication of email exchanges with Epstein.
The peer has voiced regret about continuing his friendship with Epstein with the US financier after he was convicted, saying he wished he had never met him.
The premier told broadcasters Lord Mandelson went through a proper due diligence process before his appointment.
But he added: ‘Had I known then what I know now, I’d have never appointed him.’
Sir Keir said: ‘What emerged last week were emails… which showed that the nature and extent of the relationship that Peter Mandelson had with Epstein was far different to what I had understood to be the position when I appointed him.
‘On top of that, what the email showed was he was not only questioning but wanting to challenge the conviction of Epstein at the time that for me, went and cut across the whole approach that I’ve taken on violence against women and girls for many years, and this Government’s approach.
‘On top of that, what emerged last week, on Wednesday evening late, were Peter Mandelson’s responses to questions that have been put to him by Government officials. I looked at those responses, and I did not find them at all satisfying.
‘And therefore, on the basis of those three things – the nature and extent of the relationship being far different to what I’d understood to be the position at the point of appointment, the questioning and challenging of the conviction, which, as I say, goes to the heart and cuts across what this Government is doing on violence against women and girls and the unsatisfactory nature of responses from Peter Mandelson last week to the inquires made of him by Government officials – I took the decision to remove him.’
On the eve of Donald Trump‘s state visit, the government benches are seething with fury over the latest example of the premier’s dire judgment.
MPs are openly warning that Sir Keir – who entered No10 with a massive majority just last year – only has months to turn things around.
The May elections have been identified as a make-or-break moment, with fears Nigel Farage could see another huge surge.
However, Sir Keir is facing even more immediate challenges over what was known when about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein. The PM will be out and about unveiling details of a new nuclear power deal with America later.
It has emerged that Downing Street became aware of the damning correspondence on Tuesday – two days before he was sacked.
The Daily Mail has revealed No 10 was told then that the emails contained suggestions by Lord Mandelson that Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged.
But sources insisted that the information, which came in a 2,000-word memo from Bloomberg News which was seeking comment from Lord Mandelson, was not shared with Sir Keir, who told MPs during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions that he had ‘confidence’ in his man in Washington.
Pressure is mounting on the PM’s all-powerful chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, with several MPs calling for him to be sacked
Meanwhile, Foreign Office permanent secretary Sir Oliver Robbins, formerly Theresa May‘s bungling Brexit chief, was seeking a response from Lord Mandelson about the emails, which only came later – on Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday morning, the Foreign Office said that the ‘suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein‘s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information’ and that ‘in light of that… he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect’.
The revelation adds to pressure on the PM’s all-powerful chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, with several MPs calling for him to be sacked.
