'I am sorry,' embattled UK PM tells Epstein victims

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, battling for his political future, apologised Thursday to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing disgraced Peter Mandelson, a friend of the sex offender, as US ambassador.

Starmer, who also indicated he would not resign over the scandal, issued the apology after being dogged for days by his decision to send veteran politician Mandelson to Washington last February despite his ties to Epstein.

The latest crisis to hit his struggling government follows fresh allegations about the ex-envoy's cosy ties to late sex offender Epstein, which emerged in newly-released files last Friday.

They have left many doubting Starmer's judgement and some -- including within his ruling centre-left Labour party -- questioning if he can remain prime minister.

"I am sorry," an impassioned Starmer said, addressing his apology to Epstein victims who "have seen accountability delayed and too often denied to them".

"Sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you, sorry for having believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him," he added, ahead of delivering a speech on defending British values.

Facing questions about whether he could remain in power, Starmer detailed his government's priorities, before adding: "I intend to go on doing that vital work".

- 'Darkness' -

Starmer fired former UK minister and EU trade commissioner Mandelson in September after only seven months as US ambassador, following an earlier release of files about Epstein.

The ex-envoy was one of numerous prominent figures again embarrassed by last week's latest revelations of ties to the late US financier, who died in jail in 2019 by suicide while facing charges of alleged sex trafficking.

Email exchanges between them showed a warm, intimate friendship, financial dealings, private photos as well as evidence that Mandelson passed confidential and potentially market-sensitive information to Epstein nearly two decades ago.

Starmer reiterated Thursday Mandelson repeatedly lied to secure the Washington job and that he had not previously known about the "depth and darkness" of his Epstein friendship.

However, the prime minister confirmed Wednesday he was aware ties had endured despite the disgraced financier's 2008 US conviction for soliciting a minor, prompting deep unease among Labour lawmakers increasingly unwilling to defend yet another misstep.

MPs forced the government in a vote to submit all documents related to the appointment to parliament's cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee for disclosure, rather than allowing ministers and officials to choose what to release.

"The mood yesterday was the angriest I think I've ever seen Labour MPs in the 16 years that I've been in parliament," Labour lawmaker Karl Turner told Times Radio on Thursday. "We can't pretend that this is not a crisis situation."

There have been growing calls from opposition parties for Starmer to fire his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, a longtime Mandelson ally who reportedly advocated for his Washington appointment.

The prime minister has publicly defended his aide.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Thursday Starmer's position was "clearly untenable".

Urging Labour MPs to support calls to hold a no-confidence vote in him in parliament -- where Labour has a comfortable majority -- she said it was "a question of when, not if, he goes."

- Police probe -

The furore comes ahead of a key by-election for one of Labour's parliamentary seats this month and local elections in May when the centre-left party is predicted to perform poorly.

The scandal appears to have resonated with voters who returned Labour to power in 2024 for the first time since 2010 after a string of controversies helped oust the Conservatives.

"Repeated government U-turns, cabinet resignations and constant briefings of leadership plots have led the public to say this government is just as chaotic as the last," Luke Tryl, executive director of the More in Common UK think tank, told AFP.

"The Mandelson saga looks set to turbo charge that even further and convince people that the problem is far wider than one party or prime minister."

This political crisis weighed Thursday on the pound and longer-term bonds.

Mandelson, 72, who has not publicly commented on the crisis this week, was for decades a pivotal and divisive figure in British politics. He twice resigned from government for alleged misconduct.

The latest revelations prompted his resignation from parliament's unelected House of Lords earlier this week.

He is also the subject of a police investigation into claims of misconduct in a public office which -- if arrested, charged and convicted -- could lead to a prison term.