Sawt Falasteen - 'I am sorry,' embattled UK PM tells Epstein victims

Starmer issued the wide-ranging apology after being dogged for days by the decision, following fresh allegations about Mandelson's cosy ties to late sex offender Epstein which emerged in newly-released files last Friday.

The latest crisis to hit Starmer's struggling government has left many doubting his 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 lived with trauma that most of us can barely comprehend" and "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.

Starmer fired former UK minister and EU trade commissioner Mandelson last September after only seven months as ambassador in Washington, 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 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.

- 'Angriest' -

Starmer has said Mandelson repeatedly lied to secure the Washington job but insists he had not previously known about the "depth and extent" of his friendship with Epstein.

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 publicly defended his aide Wednesday.

It comes just 19 tumultuous months after Labour seized power, and ahead of a key by-election for one of its parliamentary seats this month and local elections in May when the centre-left party is predicted to perform poorly.

- Police probe -

The scandal appears to have cut through to voters who returned Labour to power for the first time since 2010 after a string of controversies and crisis dogged the ousted Conservatives.

Polling by YouGov showed 95 percent of respondents were aware of the story.

"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 has weighed on the pound and longer-term bonds, with sterling the worst-performing currency among peers in trading Wednesday into Thursday.

Mandelson, 72, for decades a pivotal and divisive figure in British politics, has had a chequered career and had 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.

Mandelson has not publicly commented this week, but UK media report he has maintained that he has not acted criminally, did not act for personal gain and will cooperate with the probe.

D.AbuRida--SF-PST