Starmer faces backlash over Mandelson-Epstein ties (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Who is this man and why has he caused such a problem for Prime Minister Keir Starmer?

[00:00:04] Speaker 2: Well Peter Mandelson has been at the heart of the Labour Party, not just in recent years but in recent decades. He's a particular problem for Keir Starmer because it was Keir Starmer who gave him that job as the UK ambassador to the US and sacked him from that job last year after new revelations came to light about Peter Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

[00:00:22] Speaker 1: And how bad is it for the Prime Minister right now?

[00:00:25] Speaker 2: It's really bad. Essentially he has admitted that he knew something of Peter Mandelson's continuing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after Jeffrey Epstein was convicted of trafficking in Florida. Importantly he says Peter Mandelson then lied to him when he asked him questions about how deep that relationship was.

[00:00:43] Speaker 1: And how angry is his own party and why does this all matter?

[00:00:46] Speaker 2: Look they're furious and that matters because any Prime Minister only remains Prime Minister if their own MPs from their own party want them to remain Prime Minister. What can happen next to the Prime Minister? The Prime Minister needs to try to quell the anxiety among Labour MPs. He wanted to release some of the documents related to the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador. He said that that would show how much Lord Mandelson misled him. But the Metropolitan Police who are conducting a criminal investigation into Lord Mandelson said he couldn't do that. That's tricky for the Prime Minister because it makes it harder for him to draw a line under this. He will be hoping that over the next few days MPs will calm down and take stock. But I don't think you can rule out their anger getting worse.