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The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of being “a hostage to Labour MPs,” saying the Labour leader is doing “anything that he can” to please them and cling to power.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Badenoch said that Labour MPs must “consider their position and ask themselves in good conscience, should this man be running the country.”
This comes from the government’s release of the Peter Mandelson files on Wednesday. Within the report, it was discovered that Starmer was warned in December 2024 that there were concerns of a “general reputational risk” associated with Starmer due to Mandelson’s connections to Epstein.
Epstein, who gained notoriety for his criminal activities, was convicted in 2008 for the procurement of an underage girl. Despite this conviction, the report indicates that Mandelson continued to engage with Epstein between 2009 and 2011, even reportedly staying at Epstein’s residence during the period when Epstein was incarcerated.
Additional findings within the documents reveal that Mandelson was involved in a 2014 ocean conservation initiative established by Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Epstein.
On Thursday, the Tory leader said: “In any normal circumstances, the prime minister would be resigning. He’s been shown to have lied to the Commons.
“He told everyone that he did not know the full extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. And now we can see from the release of these files that that is not true.
“He has shown a complete lack of judgement, catastrophic error after catastrophic error.”
Badenoch was asked if Labour MPs have spoken to Tory whips to organise a vote of no confidence in Starmer.
She said: “I think that’s a discussion that a few of them have had with the whips.
“I think that what Keir Starmer is right now is a hostage to Labour MPs. He is doing anything that he can to please his backbenchers rather than doing what is right for the country.
“I want someone who puts the national interest above their party interest.”
Mandelson has received a £75,000 payout after he was sacked last September. Badenoch said in response to this that “something very dodgy has happened” for him to receive that money.
She said: “If someone has been dishonest and lied, you don’t give them a severance payment. “It means that there are even more questions to answer.”
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