British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apologized for appointing Peter Mandelson to a senior position, despite the former envoy's known ties to convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein, in an attempt to end the crisis that has engulfed his government over Mandelson's appointment, Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
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"I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you. Sorry that so many people in power let you down. Sorry that I believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him," Starmer said, addressing Epstein's victims. "And sorry that even now you are forced to watch this story unfold publicly again."
The British Prime Minister began a speech about revitalizing disadvantaged British cities, directly addressing the issue that has overshadowed his premiership. Mandelson lied to him, the British Prime Minister said: "He portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew."
Starmer's apology followed Wednesday's admission that materials used to vet Mandelson for the position of ambassador to the US contained details of his relationship with Epstein, the publication writes. A series of emails recently released by the US Department of Justice showed how close these ties remained for years after the financier was convicted on child sex trafficking charges in 2008.
Starmer said his team had asked Mandelson before the appointment whether he had remained with Epstein and whether he had accepted gifts and other favors from him. "None of us knew the depth and darkness of that relationship," Starmer said. "The information now available clearly shows that his answers were lies."
Members of Starmer's party are growing increasingly dissatisfied as their government approaches crucial local elections with low approval ratings, the publication writes. On Wednesday, they helped force the government to admit that confidential documents about Mandelson's vetting process would be reviewed by the cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee.
This plan could conflict with the ongoing police investigation into Mandelson's case after London's Metropolitan Police said they had asked the government to withhold some information from the public as it could harm their investigation, the publication writes.
By openly addressing the Mandelson scandal on Thursday, Starmer also sought to restore public trust in the political class in general, as the British electorate turns away from the traditional British Labour-Conservative duopoly and towards fringe parties of the left and right, the publication points out.
As the publication writes, UK voters are becoming increasingly cynical about politics: 60% of the public say that politicians invent or exaggerate culture wars as a political tactic, compared to 40% in 2020, according to a King's College London and Ipsos poll conducted in August.
"Politics in this dangerous era is no longer a struggle of left and right, but a competition between renewal and discontent," Starmer said in his speech. "Between those who accept the idea that society is a zero-sum game, and those who believe that we can unite for a higher purpose."
With this, he returned to old ideas, building on his speech at last year's annual Labour Party conference, in which he tried to reclaim patriotism on behalf of his own party and move away from the far-right insurgents Reform UK, who have gained popularity through anti-immigrant rhetoric, the publication notes.
The country's government, the publication writes, is desperately trying to weaken the popularity of Reform leader Nigel Farage ahead of a by-election in Greater Manchester later this month and a series of local elections in May.