UK PM seeks inquiry into Epstein ties of former envoy, key Blair-era Labour figure Peter Mandelson
London: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ordered an urgent inquiry into former British ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson’s links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, amid mounting political pressure following the release of fresh US documents.
Downing Street said the review will examine all available information relating to Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein during his time as a government minister. The inquiry will be led by Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald.
Starmer has also said Mandelson should be stripped of his House of Lords title and barred from sitting in the upper chamber of Parliament, although he acknowledged that the prime minister does not have the direct power to remove a peerage.
The move comes after newly released US records revived scrutiny of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein. Bank documents suggest Epstein may have transferred a total of $75,000 to accounts linked to Mandelson between 2003 and 2004. Other records indicate that in 2009, when Mandelson was business secretary, he forwarded an economic briefing to Epstein intended for then prime minister Gordon Brown.
Mandelson, a key architect of Labour’s revival under Tony Blair in the 1990s, resigned from the Labour Party on Sunday, saying he did not want to cause “further embarrassment”. He has denied any wrongdoing, stating that he has no recollection of receiving the alleged payments and does not know whether the documents are authentic.
The Metropolitan Police said it is aware of the latest Epstein files and has received multiple reports alleging misconduct in public office. These reports, it said, will be reviewed to determine whether they meet the threshold for a criminal investigation. While police did not name individuals, several British media outlets have identified Mandelson as the subject of the complaints.
Mandelson, who was removed as UK ambassador to Washington last year over his ties to Epstein, has apologised to Epstein’s victims for maintaining a friendship with the disgraced financier.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
