Starmer defended Mandelson after officials knew about Epstein emails, BBC understands

Officers at No 10 and the International Workplace have been conscious of supportive emails between Lord Mandelson and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when the prime minister initially defended the previous ambassador on Wednesday, the BBC understands.Sources harassed Sir Keir was not conscious of the contents of the emails when he stood by Lord Mandelson at Prime Minister’s Questions.The BBC understands {that a} media enquiry outlining particulars of the messages between the pair was despatched to the International Workplace on Tuesday, and handed on to No 10.Sir Oliver Robbins, the everlasting under-secretary on the International Workplace, requested Lord Mandelson concerning the emails on Tuesday, however didn’t obtain a response till the next day.Prime Minister’s Questions takes place each Wednesday at noon whereas the Home of Commons is sitting, with the prime minister dealing with questions from the chief of the opposition and different members of the Home.Lord Mandelson was sacked because the UK’s ambassador to the US shortly earlier than 11:00 on Thursday. Downing Road stated the emails contained “new info” that was not identified on the time of Lord Mandelson’s appointment.The complete emails have been printed by Bloomberg and the Solar on Wednesday night.”I feel the world of you and I really feel hopeless and livid about what has occurred,” Mandelson wrote the day earlier than Epstein reported to jail in 2008 for soliciting intercourse from a minor.Mandelson added: “It’s a must to be extremely resilient, battle for early launch… Your folks stick with you and love you.”In an interview with the Solar on Wednesday, Lord Mandelson stated he felt a “large sense of remorse” that he had met Epstein, and that he “took at face worth the lies that he fed me and lots of others”. The BBC earlier reported that Lord Mandelson’s emails have been despatched from an previous account to which he now not had entry. Officers cite this as the explanation they’d not been seen earlier.In an announcement saying Lord Mandelson’s dismissal, the International Workplace stated: “The emails present that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially completely different from that identified on the time of his appointment.”Following his sacking, Mandelson stated being the UK’s ambassador to the US had been “the privilege of my life”. It comes as Sir Keir faces rising strain over his dealing with of Lord Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US.Labour MP Clive Lewis, an outspoken voice on the Labour left, stated Sir Keir “would not appear as much as the job”, including that there was a “very, very harmful environment” amongst Labour MPs. One other Labour MP, Jo White, stated the “clock is ticking” for Sir Keir to show polls round earlier than native elections subsequent Might.Labour MP Emily Thornberry, chair of the international affairs committee, has written to the brand new International Secretary Yvette Cooper asking for particulars on the vetting course of for Lord Mandelson’s appointment, and whether or not safety considerations have been dismissed.Thornberry’s letter was first reported by Sky Information.It additionally emerged that Jeffrey Epstein paid for Lord Mandelson’s journey on two separate events in 2003 totalling greater than $7,400 (£5,400), in keeping with paperwork launched by the US Home of Representatives Oversight Committee.Earlier this week, US lawmakers launched an alleged “birthday guide” containing messages despatched to Jeffrey Epstein on his fiftieth birthday in 2003 – together with one from Lord Mandelson.In his letter, which options images of the pair, Lord Mandelson described Jeffrey Epstein as his “finest pal”, and an “clever, sharp-witted man”.