Morally bankrupt! Starmer is accused after blaming security services for vetting process that failed to bar Mandelson

Rebecca Camber | The Daily Mail

Keir Starmer was dubbed 'morally bankrupt' on Thursday night after blaming MI5 for failing to vet Peter Mandelson properly.

Fighting for survival amid a revolt over his handling of the scandal, the Prime Minister criticised the 'vetting carried out independently by the security services' on the disgraced Labour peer, suggesting the process needs to be looked at.

But his comments provoked a furious backlash as critics pointed out Sir Keir had already approved and announced Mandelson as the new ambassador to Washington before he was subject to in-depth national security vetting.

MI5 did not carry out checks on Mandelson - it was the job of the Cabinet Office, with limited input from spies.

On Thursday, in a desperate bid to hold on to his dwindling authority, the PM sought to present himself as a victim of Mandelson's lies, claiming he had honestly believed his assurances that he 'barely knew' Jeffrey Epstein.

But the suggestion that Sir Keir was somehow blind to the true nature of their relationship and that MI5 should have dug deeper only heightened anger among MPs who accused him of a 'grubby attempt to shift blame'.

At the time of Mandelson's appointment last February, there was a wealth of evidence in the public domain about his close friendship with paedophile Epstein. 

Tory security spokesman Alicia Kearns said: 'Keir Starmer exposes again his abject lack of integrity. Blaming our security services when he rail-roaded Mandelson into post, and only afterwards tasked the Cabinet Office to whitewash it, is morally bankrupt.

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Mandelson sent Epstein cringe emails about 'well hung' young men and 'new hotties'

Comment: Mandelson is one of many who were probably abusing boys under the Blair government. Below is the tip of the iceberg. Clearly he has been sacrificed to save the revelations going any further to harm the British Establishment. 

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Daily Express

Newly unveiled emails reveal a surprising and suggestive correspondence between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein, hinting at a complex relationship.

Peter Mandelson sent a series of sexually suggestive emails to Jeffrey Epstein despite insisting he remained "kept separate" from the paedophile financier's "sexual side," newly released documents reveal.

The correspondence between the pair included brazen references to strippers, "well-hung" young men and "new hotties" in government, with their exchanges saturated in sexual innuendo throughout their relationship.

Epstein sent a lewd quip in April 2009 following a climate change protester's attack on Mandelson that made headlines when green slime was thrown across him.

The financier's private message read: "Goo on your face again."

October 2009 brought a bizarre exchange where Epstein proposed Mandelson marry Princess Anne and pursue the premiership.

Mandelson responded he would "get straight on it," prompting Epstein to reply: "You getting straight is too horrible to imagine ... I was referring to your appendage."

Exchanges during prison sentence

Epstein was serving time in July 2009 for soliciting girls as young as 14 for prostitution when he counselled Mandelson to make "bold moves."

Mandelson shot back: "In what areas..? Policy, social or sexual?"

Two days following Epstein's release from jail, Mandelson inquired how they should mark the occasion.

Epstein wrote: "With grace and modesty, (those are the names of two strippers)."

Later that same day, Mandelson asked how "freedom" felt to his newly released friend.

Epstein replied: "She feels fresh, firm, and creamy."

Read more: What we know Starmer knew about Madelson's sordid links to Epstein

Read more: Starmer's likely replacement will chill you to the bone

Election period messages

The run-up to the 2010 General Election during New Labour's final days generated a flurry of suggestive communications, reports the Daily Mail.

Following an emergency Cabinet reshuffle that saw Mandelson appointed Lord President of the Council, Epstein emailed: "Good work."

Mandelson's simple response: "Phew."

Epstein then questioned whether that represented merely a sigh or a reaction to "the number of new hotties" in government.

Epstein subsequently advised Mandelson to demonstrate loyalty toward Gordon Brown to prevent being sidelined.

Mandelson expressed concern Brown would "immediately press the panic button" because the Prime Minister had grown "highly sensitised to [any] movement of my eyebrow."

Epstein responded: "Are you sure the backpressure from your lack of sex is not turning your brain into fois gras?"

Mandelson acknowledged: "It's certainly a serious problem. Cure coming to London from S'hai next weekend."

Election day on May 6, 2010 brought another crude message from Mandelson to Epstein stating: "We are praying for a hung parliament. Alternatively, a well-hung young man."

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