In a display of candour that was as refreshing as it was deeply alarming, the Prime Minister stood at the despatch box yesterday and confirmed what many had whispered but few expected him to breathe: he knew. He knew that Peter Mandelson had maintained his personal friendship with the late Jeffrey Epstein well after the financier’s conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child. And yet, with the nonchalance of counsel advancing an implausible brief in court, the Prime Minister sent the Dark Lord to Washington anyway.

If the legislative shackles weren’t enough, the administrative ones are even tighter

The Prime Minister’s admission was met with hushed awe in the Commons. Kemi Badenoch had to put the same question to him three times before eliciting any direct response. For the Prime Minister, having a friendship with one of the century’s most notorious predators is no longer a disqualifier from candidacy for diplomatic office, but perhaps merely a........

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