LIVE: Starmer vows to carry on as PM amid Mandelson fury

Keir Starmer said the security vetting process needs to be looked at again after Peter Mandelson’s appointment was cleared.

He told the audience in Hastings:

There was a due diligence exercise that culminated in questions being asked because I wanted to know the answer to certain issues. That’s why those questions were asked. The answer to those questions were not truthful.

There was then, I should add, security vetting carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave him clearance for the role, and you have to go through that before you take up the post. Clearly, both the due diligence and the security vetting need to be looked at again.

Starmer says he understands the ‘anger and frustration’ of Labour MPs at his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to Washington, despite knowing his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Addressing reporters, the Prime Minister was pressed on some of his own MPs publicly saying he should stand down to restore trust in politics.

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.

Here are the opening remarks by Keir Starmer as he immediately addressed the Peter Mandelson scandal during his press conference in Hastings.

Keir Starmer is clearly rattled as he faces questions on Peter Mandelson.

Asked if he will consider his future as Prime Minister on the grounds of Labour MPs feeling his position is untenable, Starmer refuses to discuss his future.

He said he was elected to change the country and admits frustration his Pride of Place project won’t be on tomorrow’s front pages.

He said:

I was elected in on a mandate in 2024 to change the country for the better.

As mentioned earlier by Dan Hodges, Keir Starmer has attempted to clarify his remarks in PMQs that he was aware of Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein’s ongoing relationship.

Starmer says while it was known ‘publicly for sometime they knew each other’ Epstein was questioned over the ‘nature and extent’ of his relationship.

The PM says he was ‘partly inhibited’ in his answer to Kemi Badenoch by police.

He then reiterates Mandelson deliberately gave the impression he barely knew Epstein which he believed to be the truth.

He said:

I had no reason at that stage to think that was anything other than the truth, and therefore we proceeded. What I learnt in September was that was not the truth. When further emails came to light … and having asked some further questions, including questions about whether Mandelson received gifts, benefits and hospitality, and the nature of the relationship, I sacked Mandelson from the role.

Keir Starmer said Britain will ‘pursue the truth’ following new emails released as part of the Epstein files.

He said the country will not ‘look away’ and ‘shrug our shoulders’ after new disclosures led to a huge political scandal.

He added:

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.

Earlier in his speech, Keir Starmer claimed Peter Mandelson portrayed Epstein as a man he ‘barely knew’.

The Prime Minister said Mandelson was asked about the nature of his relationship with Epstein and whether he accepted gifts and hospitality.

He told the news conference:

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.

The Prime Minister also said he won’t release information from the Peter Mandelson files as part of a ‘political game’ as he admitted his frustration that police have requested some documents to be restricted.

Starmer said:

I understand the strength of public feeling. I share the anger that people feel when powerful individuals appear to escape scrutiny. And I want to be able to release those documents as quickly as possible.

I wanted to release them yesterday, in fact, and to talk about them at Prime Minister’s Questions. But the police have advised that releasing certain information now could risk prejudicing a future investigation or legal process.

And however frustrating from my personal point of view that is, and it is, I will not take any step, however politically tempting, however popular, that risks justice for victims. Because this is not and must never become a political game.

Keir Starmer has said he is ‘sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him’ British ambassador to Washington.

He told a press conference:

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. They have seen accountability delayed and too often denied. To them, I want to say this. I am sorry. I am sorry for what was done to you. Sorry that so many people 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.

The Prime Minister immediately addresses the Mandelson scandal in Hastings as he tells the audience no one knew the ‘depth and darkness’ of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

He said:

I entered politics because I wanted to change our country for the better. To make it fairer, safer, more secure.

And I still believe that most people who serve in public life, whether as civil servants or elected politicians, do so for the same reason, because they believe in service. Because they believe in service.

Because they believe in duty. Because they believe in the public good. But that is not why some people do it. And that is not why Mandelson did it.

Keir Starmer’s news conference in Hastings is under way.

The Prime Minister will deliver a speech about improving Britain’s communities but can expect an avalanche of questions around the Peter Mandelson scandal.

You can watch the speech at the top of the page.

Keir Starmer is expected to speak at a sports centre in East Sussex shortly.

The Prime Minister will seek to move on from the fiasco with a speech focused on reversing community decline, but is likely to face further questions about Lord Mandelson.

Mandelson has quit the House of Lords, resigned from the Labour Party, been removed from the Privy Council and faces a criminal investigation following new revelations from the so-called Epstein files.

His appointment as US ambassador has led to questions surrounding Starmer’s judgment with his political future under threat as a result.