PM understood not to have seen messages from former ambassador to 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 the former ambassador to the US and Jeffrey Epstein were passed to Downing Street, according to reports.
The prime minister sacked Mandelson on Thursday after emails were published revealing that he had told Epstein “your friends stay with you and love you” while the disgraced financier was facing jail for sex offences.
The Foreign Office received a media enquiry outlining details of the messages on Tuesday, which was passed to No 10, PA Media and the Times reported.
The permanent undersecretary at the Foreign Office, Oliver Robbins, allegedly asked Mandelson about the veracity of the emails but did not receive a response until Wednesday afternoon, a government source told PA.
