Sir Keir Starmer is facing renewed scrutiny after official documents revealed he was questioned about Labour grandee Peter Mandelson's communications with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Labour leader, while Director of Public Prosecutions, was copied into an email chain in 2012010 where officials discussed Epstein's attempt to arrange a social meeting with Lord Mandelson. The correspondence shows Epstein contacted Mandelson's office requesting a "social meeting" after the peer attended a dinner at the financier's New York home in 2010.
According to records obtained by the Daily Mail, an official from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) wrote to Starmer stating: "I have spoken to the officer who informs me that there is no allegation or investigation in the UK regarding Lord Mandelson." The email confirmed the meeting was "purely social" in nature.
The revelation comes as part of a wider release of documents concerning Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The emails show Mandelson's office initially accepted Epstein's meeting invitation before later declining.
When questioned about the correspondence, a spokesperson for Sir Keir stated: "As DPP, Keir Starmer was copied into a huge number of emails and this was not something that required his input or attention."
The disclosure has sparked fresh questions about the extent of British establishment figures' connections to the disgraced financier, putting pressure on senior political figures to address their past associations with Epstein.
