Starmer defended Mandelson after No 10 received damning Epstein emails, reports say

PM is understood not to have seen messages showing former ambassador’s support for sex offender when speaking in Commons

Keir Starmer defended Peter Mandelson in the House of Commons two days after details of the damning emails between Lord Mandelson and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were passed to Downing Street, according to reports.

The prime minister sacked Mandelson as the British ambassador to the US on Thursday after the emails were published, revealing that Mandelson told Epstein “your friends stay with you and love you” while the disgraced financier was facing jail for sex offences.