The UK’s Epstein Crisis | The Nation

It took just 18 months for the Labor government to sink into the sand of its own drifting moral vacuity. Coming to power with an enviable majority in July 2024, after 14 years of divisive Conservative rule, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised stability, service over spectacle and a government of national renewal. Instead, we were faced with a jumble of endless U-turns, persistent stagnation in the absence of a large-scale common strategy, and now a full-blown crisis.

Starmer’s personal ratings are already at an all-time low – the worst ever for a prime minister. But the recently released Epstein files led to the resignation of former US ambassador Peter Mandelson from the party, as well as a police investigation, Starmer’s top aides resigning and growing calls for the prime minister to step down. If he is safe for the moment, it is only for lack of alternatives within his party. The Prime Minister has promised to change. But it’s hard to believe, let alone have sympathy for someone who is behind all of this – not just the Epstein scandal but the party’s dismal fortunes in general. Regardless, sympathy must go, today and always, to the victims of Epstein’s heinous abuse, to the countless women and girls for whom justice is constantly denied in the face of rotten political machinations.

The trigger for this government crisis, which dominated British news last week, was the publication by the US Department of Justice of more than 3 million documents from the Epstein files at the end of January. Some of these documents feature the now disgraced Peter Mandelson, one of the key figures in the New Labor project during the Tony Blair years and well beyond. He had already been removed from his post as ambassador to the United States last September, when emails surfaced in which he appeared to defend or downplay the actions of his friend, convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. But the latest Epstein files were worse.

This time, there were bank records showing payments totaling $75,000 from Epstein to Mandelson and her current husband, Reinaldo Avila, although Mandelson claims he has no record or recollection of receiving that sum. The new result reveals that Epstein paid £10,000 ($13,500) for Avila’s osteopathy course. There are photos of Mandelson in his underwear talking to a woman in a bathrobe, apparently in Epstein’s Paris apartment. And, surprisingly, documents appear to show that Mandelson, who served as Labor business secretary between 2008 and 2010, may have leaked sensitive market information to Epstein about the government’s plans in the aftermath of the financial crash. This triggered the opening of a police investigation, even though Mandelson claims not to have acted criminally. But, unsurprisingly, the stench proved too much for the government. Labor leaders and MPs lined up to express their horror and shame and launch calls for accountability, while raising questions about the judgment of their leaders. Starmer himself has repeatedly apologized and said he was “sorry for believing Mandelson’s lies and naming him”.

But one has to wonder about the absence of such angst in December 2024, when Mandelson was appointed U.S. ambassador. At the time, this announcement was treated as regular news. Foreign Minister David Lammy said Mandelson had “a wealth of experience in trade, economics and foreign policy from his years in government and the private sector”. A Labor MP enthused The Guardian that Mandelson is “very good at building relationships and has unparalleled negotiation skills.” Only leftists have sounded the alarm, with John McDonnell, former shadow chancellor, posting on

Among these reasons, it should be noted that at that time, Epstein’s “particularly close relationship” with Mandelson was already known, confirmed by documents published by a New York court in 2023. Asked about this friendship by the Financial Times in February 2025, Mandelson said: “It’s an FT obsession and frankly, you can all fuck off, okay? None of this seemed to worry the Labor Party members who kept Mandelson close. In fact, even in September 2025, when Mandelson was removed as US ambassador, Labor insisted that he had until then been considered “worth the risk” because of his “peculiar talents”.

And therein lies the rot. Because this assessment reflects a mindset driven by factionalism and political favoritism, regardless of ethical considerations. Before this latest scandal, Mandelson had already resigned from his ministerial posts twice during the New Labor years, due to conflicts of interest and financial controversies. Add to that Epstein’s friendship, and it seems clear that he should not have been given an ambassadorial role. Yet it turns out that he has also been brought into the heart of the workings of the Labor Party, influencing all sorts of decisions. As a former Labor official said The Guardianas the 2024 election approached, Mandelson “didn’t have an office but he was looking at the big issues; he was always there to give advice.”

Sadly, this culture of ignoring inconvenient truths within the tight-and-tight Blairite faction that runs the Labor Party is Starmer’s direction all the way. As one Labor Party member said to me about Mandelson: “He’s the pinnacle, but that’s them. As long as they’re in denial, they won’t be able to understand what’s happening and why.”

With the majority of the British public unsure of what the Labor leader actually stands for, this vacuous factionalism has long driven the Starmer project. This is why, during his leadership campaign, Starmer made left-wing promises aimed at winning over Labor members, then abandoned those promises once in power. That’s why his team was so determined to rout the left, excluding councilors and parliamentarians, purging members, and eradicating election candidates for the most spurious reasons, like “liking” a tweet from a Green Party leader. This is why the Starmer government has turned against the wind, lacking a coherent narrative or strategy, and ideologically incapable of raising desperately needed revenue other than by trying to squeeze pensioners and disabled people. This is why management has appeared so directionless, bouncing between multiple U-turns and endless giveaways, amid negative briefings from their own advisors who quip that their boss is a useful idiot, tricked into believing he is in charge. This is why the party has alienated its own electoral base with its support for Israel during the decimation of Gaza, its harsh and migrant-bashing rhetoric and policies, and its refusal to increase public spending or break free from right-wing fiscal rules. Morgan McSweeney, right-hand man of the now resigned Prime Minister and protégé of Mandelson, has made it his mission to rid the party of Corbyn’s left. While left-wing Jeremy Corbyn was party leader in 2017, Peter Mandelson himself said: “I work every day to bring forward the end of the [Corbyn’s] mandate. » Well, it worked. But it also spoiled the party.

A deeply unpopular Labor prime minister is now fighting for his political life, with little hope of remaining in office for long. When veteran MP Diane Abbot (suspended by the Labor Party) told Channel 4 News that she didn’t see Starmer lasting beyond May’s local elections, she was asked why wait until then to impeach him? “Because it will be a catastrophic election,” she replied. “And I think the idea is to let him stay and take responsibility.” An additional factor is that no leadership candidate, other than Blairite (and Mandelson mentee) Wes Streeting, is up for a challenge.

All this is manna from heaven for the far-right, anti-immigration Reform Party which, under the leadership of Trump’s friend Nigel Farage, is sucking up the two former Tory MPs and comfortably leading the polls. While Labor won in 2024, its 172-seat majority was a vote against the corrupt Tories after 14 years of economic stagnation and a gutted welfare state. In fact, Labor won two-thirds of the country’s seats with just a third of the vote; Put it all together and you’ll see why it’s been dubbed a “loveless landslide.” A struggling population seeking financial help now sees Britain’s two main parties, the Conservatives and Labour, as part of the same self-serving political establishment – ​​and looks elsewhere. This explains the rise of the Reformists, but also the rebirth of the Green Party under the leadership of the bold eco-populist leader Zack Polanski. Green strategists note that in the run-up to the upcoming by-elections in Gorton and Denton, a Labor stronghold in Greater Manchester, voters appeared to have to choose between the Greens and Reforms. Looking at data collected before the Mandelson scandal, a Green Party aide told me, “It’s clear that people just want an alternative,” before adding. “Work isn’t talked about at all. People don’t talk about it.”