𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Mandelson-Epstein scandal is an utter embarrassment for our country. It has weakened our global standing and undermined our relationship with our most important ally, the US. I visited Washington in February and met with figures from the administration, the Senate and the wider political landscape. And one of the most striking things was how deeply the Mandelson story had resonated. The whole scandal projects an image of chaos. But it also does something worse: it casts a shadow of shame on the UK with our closest ally.

Keir Starmer’s constant, desperate attempts to cover up the truth have only made things worse. By trying to dodge the Humble Address we tabled in Parliament and its demand for all documents to be published, he confirmed he had no intention of being honest. Starmer has accepted he made an error in appointing Mandelson. He’s done that to try and kill the story off. By trying to present this scandal as an honest mistake, he hopes to get away without any more damage to his collapsing authority. We will not let this happen.

Are we really expected to believe that a man who has spent years bragging about his reputation as the country’s top prosecutor – a job requiring attention to detail – just made an inadvertent error?

He knew exactly what he was doing and he disregarded the victims of Epstein’s vile crimes when he appointed Mandelson.

And he did so despite having made a point of campaigning for higher standards in public office. Those standards clearly go out the window when they don’t serve his interests.

And what makes this all even worse is that it is not a lone example. Starmer’s lack of judgement has been exposed time and again.

His anti-corruption minister quit after being named in an anti-corruption investigation into her family in Bangladesh. His Housing Secretary Angela Rayner – in charge of stamp duty and council tax – underpaid on the former and resigned over it. His Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney had to fall on his sword in the fallout from the Mandelson scandal.

The problem goes beyond personnel, too. Look at foreign affairs. Think of how Starmer has embarrassed our country with his shameful Chagos Surrender Deal.

He wants to hand our sovereign territory and £35billion of taxpayers’ money to an ally of China.

Russia, China and Iran have all welcomed the deal. And it makes complete sense. As the old saying goes, don’t interrupt your enemy while they’re making a mistake. Hostile states can see the idiocy of this surrender and they are revelling in it.

When I was in Washington, I lobbied US government figures about the Chagos deal. The response was overwhelming: out in DC, there is widespread dismay at the deal, which is clearly undermining our relationship with the US.

That has been made clearer than ever during the recent row about the use of the base on Diego Garcia for American strikes on Iran – something Starmer refused to allow, before U-turning as he so often does.

This mad surrender plan is yet another example of his wider desire to cosy up to China. In January he jetted off to Beijing to kowtow to Xi Jinping and came back empty handed.

Straight after Starmer got back to the UK, British-Hong Kong democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison. It was as if the CCP knew Starmer had no backbone, and wanted to remind him who’s boss.

And of course Starmer also waved through China’s plan for a spy-hub super embassy in central London despite major concerns about the impact on our national security, not long after his Government oversaw the collapse the case against two alleged Chinese spies at the heart of our democracy.

Meanwhile Starmer’s only other foreign policy is to try and take us into the EU by the backdoor, another massive misjudgement that will make our country into rule takers instead of rule makers.

Keir Starmer spent years campaigning to stop and block Brexit. And now he wants to surrender sovereignty and bend the knee to Brussels instead of standing up for our country and making the most of Brexit.

With Starmer, it’s scandal after scandal, misjudgement after misjudgement. He doesn’t have what it takes to lead his own party, let alone the country. No backbone, no plan, no authority. Britain deserves better.

Only the Conservatives, under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership, will put our country first and fight for British interests and those of our allies.