Starmer defended Mandelson after officials knew about Epstein emails, BBC understands

When the prime minister first defended the former ambassador on Wednesday, officials at No 10 and the Foreign Office were aware of supportive emails between Lord Mandelson and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the BBC learned. When Sir Keir stood by Lord Mandelson at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, he denied knowing the emails. According to the BBC, a media inquiry containing the specifics of the messages between the two people was sent to the Foreign Office on Tuesday and passed on to No 10. On Tuesday, Sir Oliver Robbins, the Foreign Office's permanent under-secretary, questioned Lord Mandelson about the emails, but there was no response until the next day.

Olivia Blake, a backbench Labour MP, called No 10's handling of the situation

incredibly troubling. On Saturday, she told BBC Radio 4's Today show:

Any operation that struggles to tell a prime minister when something as significant as those emails were sent to them has deep flaws.

Whoever is gatekeeping the details to the prime minister needs to stop,

Blake said, and they should start getting things to him much earlier so he can get to the bottom of it.

When asked whether Lord Mandelson should be allowed to leave the House of Lords, Blake said

we should be considering it. In No. 10, some of his constituents slammed the prime minister strongly denied criticism of the leadership. I had utter confidence in histop teamand wasfocused on serving the country,

the stars said. Downing Street denied accusations that the prime minister is struggling to engage with MPs, saying he speaks with backbenchers

regularly

and referring to a meeting held on Monday night, which the latter said was

positive. The prime minister had very important questions to answer, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said.

The only way to get this off is to have complete transparency about who knew what and when,

she said. About 11:00 on Thursday, Lord Mandelson was dismissed as the UK's ambassador to the United States right before 11:00. The emails, according to Downing Street, contained new information that was not known at the time of Lord Mandelson's appointment.

On Wednesday evening, Bloomberg and the Sun published the complete emails. Mandelson wrote the day before Epstein admitted to prison in 2008 for soliciting sex from minors.

You have to be incredibly resilient, fight for early release,

Mandelson said. Your friends are with you and adore you. Lord Mandelson said in a Sun interview on Wednesday that he had a tremendous sense of regret that awaited Epstein and that 'he

took at face value the lies that nourished me and many others

and that

he fed me and several others. Lord Mandelson's emails were sent from an old account to which he no longer had access, according to the BBC. Officials cite this as the reason why they were unable to be seen earlier.

The emails reveal that Peter Mandelson's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that reported at the time of his appointment,

the Foreign Office said in a tweet announcing his dismissal. Mandelson said being the UK ambassador to the United States had been

the privilege of my life" after his dismissal.

It comes as Sir Keir is under growing strain over his treatment of Lord Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the United States. Sir Keir

doesn't appear on the job, according to Labour MP Clive Lewis, who spoke out against Labour,

very dangerous atmosphereexisted among Labour MPs. Sir Keir'sclock is ticking

for him, according to Jo White, another Labour MP. Emily Thornberry, chair of the foreign affairs committee, wrote to new Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, asking for information about Lord Mandelson's vetting process and whether security issues were dismissed. Thornberry's letter was first reported by Sky News. According to documents released by the US HoUSe Oversight Committee, Jeffrey Epstein paid for Lord Mandelson's travel on two separate occasions in 2003, totalling more than $7,400 (£5,400). Earlier this week, US lawmakers unveiled a sUSpected

birthday book

containing messages sent to Jeffrey Epstein on his 50th birthday in 2003, including one from Lord Mandelson. Lord Mandelson referred to Jeffrey Epstein as his

best paland aintelligent, sharp-witted guy" in his letter, which includes photos of the pair.