PM - 'Mandelson has betrayed our country'

SIR Keir Starmer admitted he knew about Lord Peter Mandelson's friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he appointed him ambassador to the US but claimed the peer "lied repeatedly" about the extent of the relationship.

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The Prime Minister said Lord Mandelson "betrayed our country" by leaking information from the heart of government to Epstein.

The Prime Minister also said he had spoken to the King to have Lord Mandelson removed from the Privy Council.

Lord Mandelson, a political appointment rather than a career diplomat, was sacked from his Washington role in September last year over his links with Epstein, who died in 2019. His continued association with Epstein following his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor had been widely reported before his return to the political front line when he was named as ambassador in 2024.