The Prime Minister ignored Peter Mandelson’s links with Jeffrey Epstein, and for that he must face the consequences, a south Cumbrian MP has said.
Tim Farron, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, and a senior figure within the Liberal Democrat Party, has been scathing of Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of the ongoing Peter Mandelson scandal.
The PM is currently under pressure for his decision to appoint Mandelson to the position of the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States last year.
This is because Sir Keir admitted in the House of Commons yesterday that he was aware beforehand of Mandelson’s maintained relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
However, the PM said that he and his team had been unaware of the depth of Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein.
Tim Farron has now said that it is time for the PM to consider his position.
In a statement to The Westmorland Gazette, Mr Farron said: “What thought did the Prime Minister give to Epstein’s victims when he appointed Peter Mandelson to be our ambassador to the US?
“Mandelson’s links to Epstein were surely clear to Keir Starmer when he was appointed, as was the evidence of him leaking vital information to foreign powers.
“The PM decided that these things didn’t matter, that the victims of Epstein's wicked crimes didn’t matter, so he appointed him anyway.
“That is shameful.
“Integrity, decency and national security in high office are so important.
“I cannot see how the PM can remain in post now - he must go.”
Today (February 5), the PM said he was ‘sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies’ before appointing him US ambassador.
Sir Keir said: “It has been publicly known for some time that Mandelson knew Epstein, but none of us knew the depth of the darkness of that relationship."
The PM continued by seemingly blaming the vetting process of Mandelson before he became the UK’s man in Washington.
He said: “I think we need to look at the security vetting, because it now transpires that what was being said was not true.
“And had I known then, what I know now, I’d never have appointed him in the first place.”
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