Keir Starmer’s eventual apology to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein is not offered as a matter of genuine conscience, but rather as a matter of political expediency. The astonishing confession by the Prime Minister that he was “lied to” and “deceived” by Peter Mandelson reveals not naivety, but rather a deference to establishment figures which transcends due diligence, morality, and even political instinct.

The latest cache of documents released by the US Department of Justice reveals that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein endured even after the financier’s conviction for child sex offenses in 2008. The records show that Mandelson sent messages of support to Epstein, calling him his “best pal” even as victims of Epstein’s crimes suffered on. Perhaps even more astonishing, however, are the emails that reveal Mandelson shared top-secret economic information with Epstein during the 2008 financial crisis, when he was Gordon Brown’s business secretary. He betrayed the sacred trust of protecting the government and his oath of duty. The Metropolitan Police have begun a criminal investigation into alleged misconduct in public office.

Mandelson betrayed the sacred trust of protecting the government and his oath of duty.

But the excuse offered by Starmer, namely that he did not know the “depth and darkness” of the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein, strains credulity. As Kemi Badenoch, Leader of the Opposition Conservative Party, pointed out in Parliament, “It was on Google.” The Mandelson-Epstein relationship has been out in the open since 2019, and what........

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