Keir Starmer: I’d never have appointed Mandelson if I’d known what I know now
Keir Starmer has broken his silence about sacking Peter Mandelson as US ambassador over the envoy’s close friendship with the financier Jeffrey Epstein,Amid mounting questions about his political judgment, Starmer was asked why Lord Mandelson was appointed in the first place, given that the Labour peer’s friendship with Epstein had long been public knowledge,Starmer said: “Had I known then what I know now, I’d have never appointed him,”The prime minister backed Mandelson in the Commons on Wednesday, but sacked him a day later,He was aware when he stood up at prime minister’s questions on the Wednesday that further revelations were due to be published about Mandelson, because the ambassador had already acknowledged that “very embarrassing” messages would surface.
Starmer knew the Foreign Office had asked Mandelson questions about those emails, before PMQs, but has since insisted he did not know about the content of those emails, or Mandelson’s response to the official inquiries – until Wednesday night.The prime minister only withdrew his support for Mandelson on Thursday morning, over the emails from Mandelson to Epstein that Bloomberg published.They were from 2008.In them Mandelson suggested Epstein’s sentence for soliciting a child for prostitution should be challenged and that Epstein should “fight for early release”, shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.Asked whether he had been briefed properly on the issue before facing MPs, Starmer said: “What I knew before PMQs was that there had been media inquiries.
I didn’t know the content of the Bloomberg emails, and I knew that questions had been put to Peter that he had not yet answered, and he hadn’t answered them by the time I got to PMQs.“There is, of course, a time lag in America, but I knew that there were questions that have been put to him, but I didn’t know what answers he was going to give to those questions.“That came later on Wednesday, and that’s why, at that point, I gave the answer I did at PMQs.And that’s the extent of what I knew at the time.”Mandelson is also reported to have told Epstein: “I think the world of you,” the day before Epstein began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
Starmer said that by Wednesday evening after looking at “Mandelson’s responses to questions that have been put to him by government officials” he “did not find them at all satisfying”.Despite Starmer’s attempt to address concerns over Mandelson there is dissatisfaction within the parliamentary Labour party over the PM’s leadership after the handling of Angela Rayner’s resignation, the reshuffle that followed, and Mandelson’s sacking.Last week the Guardian reported that a government adviser said they raised informal doubts within Whitehall about Mandelson’s 2005 association with the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska but said they were reassured that he was a good appointment because he was “such a master of the dark arts”.The prime minister insists Mandelson went through a proper due diligence process before his appointment.Starmer said: “The nature and extent of the relationship being far different to what I’d understood to be the position at the point of appointment, the questioning and challenging of the conviction, which … goes to the heart and cuts across what this government is doing on violence against women and girls and the unsatisfactory nature of responses from Peter Mandelson last week to the inquiries made of him by government officials – I took the decision to remove him.
”Despite the widespread anger over the prime minister’s handling of the episode, ministers have continued to praise Mandelson’s “singular talents”, citing them as why he was seen as “worth the risk”.
Late-November budget may affect Christmas shopping, says Aldi boss
The UK boss of Aldi has warned that the late November timing of the budget could hit consumer spending in the all-important run-up to Christmas.Giles Hurley, the UK chief executive of Aldi in the UK & Ireland, said that the uncertainty over the measures that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will take to address a fiscal hole in the government’s finances could affect festive season spending decisions by consumers.“There is no doubt the budget does create a bit of uncertainty,” he said. “If you ask customers across the length and breadth of the country they would say that inflationary pressures are persistent. Inflationary challenges are just tremendously challenging
Car seats being sold online in UK that risk lives of children, Which? finds
Unregulated children’s car seats are being sold by leading online retailers in the UK, a Which? investigation has found.The consumer group discovered products for sale on platforms including eBay, Shein, Wish, Little Dreams and ManoMano that did not carry the orange certification labels showing compliance with regulation. Without these markings, parents cannot be sure the seats have been tested to the legal standard.Which? said the car seats were putting children’s lives at risk. Many were priced between £12
UK and US line up string of deals to build modular nuclear reactors in Britain
Labour’s plans for a massive expansion of nuclear power have been given a boost with a string of transatlantic deals for new modular reactors announced before Donald Trump’s visit.The UK and US governments have promised to fast track safety checks, and announced several new private sector investment deals, with Labour emphasising the potential benefits for jobs and growth.In the biggest and most advanced commercial project, Britain’s largest energy supplier Centrica will pair with the US reactor firm X-energy to build up to 12 advanced modular reactors in Hartlepool, announcing an investment that could create up to 2,500 jobs in the north-east of England.The prime minister, Keir Starmer, said the US-UK agreement, expected to be signed off formally during the state visit, was a “landmark nuclear partnership” that would also power economic growth.He said: “These major commitments set us well on course to a golden age of nuclear that will drive down household bills in the long run, while delivering thousands of good jobs in the short term
Bank of England urged to slow bond-selling plan to help cut record UK borrowing costs
Andrew Bailey has been urged by former Bank of England policymakers to ease pressure on the government’s borrowing costs by cutting back its bond-selling plans.In a crunch week for the economy, four influential ex-members of the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) said a change in course was needed.Britain’s long-term borrowing costs have hit their highest level in 27 years, intensifying the pressure on chancellor Rachel Reeves before her 26 November autumn budget.Threadneedle Street has blamed the rise on global factors., triggered by Donald Trump’s trade war and his assault on the independence of the US Federal Reserve
Sainsbury’s talks to sell Argos to Chinese retailer JD.com collapse
Sainsbury’s hopes of offloading its retail business Argos to one of China’s biggest retailers have collapsed as talks ended on Sunday.The supermarket giant confirmed it was no longer in discussions with JD.com to sell Argos, the general merchandise arm it bought for more than £1bn less than a decade ago.On Saturday it had announced talks with JD.com for a sale that it said would speed up the transformation of Argos, whose business has gone increasingly online and within larger Sainsbury’s branches
Australia’s workers reaping greater share of national income than before pandemic
Workers are now receiving more of the “economic pie” than before the pandemic, with the increase in labour’s share of national income delivering an extra $28bn into the pockets of Australians over the past year alone.Pat Bustamante, a senior economist at Westpac, said his analysis suggested that the tighter post-Covid labour market was behind the greater share going to workers, from an average of 53.8% through the 2010s, to more than 55% now.While the movement in the division of national income appears small, even fractional changes translate to tens of billions of dollars in an economy of about $2.8tn
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