Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of hiding the truth after refusing to answer questions about appointing a friend of Jeffrey Epstein as his US Ambassador. Tory MP Andrew Snowden said the Prime Minister delivered "pre-scripted nonsense that bares no resemblance to the question actually asked" and fumed "what is he scared of, what is he hiding?"
During a showdown with MPs today, Sir Keir refused to answer questions on the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson on more than four occasions, sparking fury from parliamentarians.
Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart said the Prime Minister's silence "speaks volumes" and accused him of either failing to ask basic questions about Mandelson's relationship with the convicted paedophile - or asking and ignoring the answers.
Mr Snowden challenged Sir Keir in the House of Commons saying the Prime Minister "had a blindspot to the details to this convicted paedophile with a friend in high Labour places".
Speaking to the Daily Express Mr Burghart took aim at the Prime Minister's "refusal to answer simple, direct questions" saying that it "speaks volumes". He added: "At a moment when the public expects transparency, Starmer will not even confirm whether he personally asked Peter Mandelson about his inappropriate and ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein."
He added: "That leaves two possibilities - either the Prime Minister failed to ask the most basic questions of someone he appointed to high office, or he did ask - and chose to ignore the answers."
Last week Sir Keir was accused of a cover up after crucial sections of Government files on the disgraced peer's appointment were left blank, with critics claiming the Prime Minister's notes had been "removed".
A dossier released last week showed that his section of a "box note", the cover page for a ministerial briefing file, had been left empty. Yet the box reserved for Sir Keir's response in the due diligence report on Mandelson's links to Epstein was blank, sparking fury from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who accused the Prime Minister of "lie after lie".
Critics accused the Prime Minister of a cover up and objected to the fact that his direction on the appointment appeared to be missing from the released files. Initially No 10 had refused to hand the documents over, and had to be forced into doing so by a vote in Parliament which saw Sir Keir's former deputy, Angela Rayner, back calls for increased transparency.
The documents revealed Sir Keir was warned of a "general reputational risk" over Mandelson's relationship with Epstein before giving him the prestigious Washington posting.
The due diligence report sent to Sir Keir in December 2024 noted that after Epstein was first convicted of procuring an underage girl in 2008, "their relationship continued across 2009-2011, beginning when Lord Mandelson was business minister and continuing after the end of the Labour government".
The document stated: "Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein's house while he was in jail in June 2009." Despite the warnings, Sir Keir appointed Mandelson as ambassador to Washington in December 2024.
Ms Badenoch blasted the Prime Minister at PMQs for the timing of the release after they were only made public after the last round of PMQs. It meant that Sir Keir could not be asked about their contents until a week had passed.
Sir Keir went on to repeatedly refuse to answer questions, instead engaging in a scattergun series of replies ranging from Iran and Donald Trump to criticism of the shadow justice secretary.
The Prime Minister sacked Mandelson in September 2025 after further disclosures about the relationship with Epstein emerged.
Lord Mandelson denies wrongdoing.
