PM swerves questions on whether he spoke to Mandelson over Epstein friendshp

Sir Keir Starmer has avoided saying whether he spoke to Peter Mandelson about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, before picking the peer as the UK's ambassador to the US. Despite repeated questioning in the Commons from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Sir Keir did not confirm if a conversation had taken place, instead apologising for the appointment and attacking Badenoch for her stance on Iran. Badenoch accused Sir Keir of outsourcing decisions to his staff and failing to be straight with MPs. Documents released last week revealed the prime minister was warned that Lord Mandelson's relationship with Epstein posed a "reputational risk". The 147 pages were the first batch of files to be released, after MPs voted for the government to publish documents about Lord Mandelson's appointment. The papers included a reference to a 2019 report commissioned by US bank JP Morgan which said Epstein appeared to "maintain a particularly close relationship" with Lord Mandelson. The document also notes that the peer reportedly stayed in Epstein's house while the financier was in jail in June 2009. Lord Mandelson was sacked as ambassador last September following new inf