Starmer Apologizes for Mandelson Appointment

0:00British Prime Minister Keer Starmer finally owned up to a big mistake, admitting he shouldn't have picked Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to. Washington, Mandelson's tight ties to Jeffrey Epstein raised massive red flags, and Starmer said his judgment call failed the victims of that predator. He apologized directly to Epstein's victims, took full blame, and fired the top foreign office civil servant, Ali Robbins, right after the story. He broke last week. Starmer insists he followed due process and didn't mislead parliament, even as that civil servant gears up to testify tomorrow. Opposition leaders are piling on hard. Conservative head, Kimi Baudinache, called out Starmer for zero curiosity about Mandelson's past, while liberal Democrat boss Ed Davy painted him as a, leader without real power, demanding he step up or step down. Mandelson got arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct over old emails linked to Epstein from 2009, plus his business connections.

1:01To Russia and China sparked more alarms. Staff had warned Starmer of the risks, but Mandelson's elite network was seen as a plus for dealing with President Trump. With local elections coming May 7th, Starmer's facing a midterm beat down that could shake his government more. He's ordered a security review on Mandelson's access, but plenty of questions linger about the vetting and political pressure behind it all. You've been listening to Canada News today, AI-powered local news.