February 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nShare<\/p>\n
Andrew should testify before the US Congress as ‘victims deserve and need’ anyone who may have ‘witnessed things to do that’, minister says<\/h2>\n
We can bring you more from the interview with housing secretary Steve Reed on Sky News\u2019 Trevor Phillips programme this morning (see this post for what Reed said about Peter Mandelson in the same interview).<\/p>\n
When asked if the British government would comply with an extradition request from the US if there was a charge brought against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Reed said he could not answer that question as it was an \u201centirely hypothetical\u201d one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s sensible for me to come on here and start talking hypothetically about situations that may or may not exist,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe principle here is very, very clear. If Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor \u2026 Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor clearly has insight into what was going on and he should testify because the victims deserve and need him and anybody else who may have witnessed things to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The housing secretary said people have a \u201cmoral obligation to share what they knew\u201d to help bring justice to victims. Reed said he is unsure if the government could compel the former prince to give evidence to the US Congress.<\/p>\n
Mountbatten-Windsor has always vehemently denied any wrongdoing relating to his relationship with Epstein.<\/p>\n
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Updated at\u00a006.46 EST<\/p>\n
Trump responds to release of latest Epstein files, saying documents ‘absolve’ him<\/h2>\n
As we made reference to earlier in the blog, over three million pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein were released on Friday by the department of justice, six weeks after a deadline mandated in a law signed by the US president, Donald Trump<\/strong>, who has been dogged politically by the release of the files.<\/p>\nTrump, who has admitted having a friendship with Epstein, is mentioned hundreds of times in the documents.<\/p>\n
Among them is a list compiled by the FBI last year of claims made against the US president by callers to its national Threat Operation Center tip line. Many appear to be unsubstantiated allegations of sexual abuse relating to Trump, Epstein and other public figures.<\/p>\n
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein\u2019s sexual abuse and has said their friendship soured many years ago.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One overnight, Trump said the documents had cleared him of allegations about his connections with Epstein.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see it myself but I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it\u2019s the opposite of what people were hoping, you know, the radical left,\u201d he said. The Trump administration has faced intense scrutiny over the pacing of the files\u2019 release and the heavy redactions within the published documents.<\/p>\n
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Updated at\u00a006.14 EST<\/p>\n
Nick Robins-Early<\/span><\/p>\nElon Musk had more extensive \u2013 and more friendly \u2013 communications with the financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein than previously publicly known, according to documents released on Friday by the Department of Justice. Emails in the files appear to show the two cordially messaging each other on two separate occasions to make plans for Musk to visit Epstein\u2019s island.<\/p>\n
The documents include Musk and Epstein emailing in both 2012 and 2013 to determine when Musk should make the trip to Little St James. Neither exchanges appear to have resulted in Musk visiting the island, due to logistical issues.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Elon Musk, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, has said in the past that Jeffrey Epstein had invited him to his island but he had declined.<\/span> Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein\/Reuters<\/p>\n\u201cWill be in the BVI\/St Bart\u2019s area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?\u201d Musk states on 13 December 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cany day 1st – 8th . play it by ear if you want. always space for you,\u201d Epstein replies.<\/p>\n
Musk then sends several emails relaying his schedule, and the two settle on 2 January as a date for the visit. The email exchange ends with Epstein telling Musk that he would need to remain in New York and sending his regrets that they could not meet. You can read more here:<\/p>\n
ShareEmine Sinmaz<\/span><\/p>\nEmine Sinmaz is a senior reporter at the Guardian<\/em><\/p>\nJeffrey Epstein sent thousands of pounds in bank transfers after his release from prison in 2009 to Peter Mandelson\u2019s husband, according to emails published by the US Department of Justice on Friday.<\/p>\n
The latest documents raise fresh questions about Epstein\u2019s relationship with Mandelson, who was sacked as the UK\u2019s ambassador to Washington when details of his support for the disgraced financier emerged in September.<\/p>\n
The latest dataset published on Friday shows that Mandelson\u2019s husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, emailed Epstein on 7 September 2009, about two months after Epstein was released from prison. Epstein had served 13 months of an 18-month sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender. Mandelson was business secretary at the time and in a relationship with da Silva. The pair married in 2023 after 27 years together.<\/p>\n
Da Silva asked Epstein to fund an osteopathy course and other expenses, saying: \u201cI sent you a couple of emails last week regarding my osteo course expenses, incl fee, anatomical models, laptop if you can help me with this. I hope you received them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just managed to speak to the fees office at the osteo school and confirmed that my annual fee is of \u00a33,225 \u2026 They accept bank transfer and the details are as follows.\u201d Epstein responded later that day and said: \u201cI will wire your loan amount immediated\u2019y [sic].\u201d<\/p>\n
You can read the full story here:<\/p>\n
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Andrew and Mandelson should ‘give all the assistance they possibly can’ to authorities investigating Epstein, shadow home secretary says<\/h2>\n
The Conservative party has said Andrew Windsor-Mountbatten<\/strong> and Peter Mandelson<\/strong> should \u201cgive all the assistance they possibly can\u201d to authorities investigating Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\nSpeaking to Sky News, the shadow home secretary, Chris Philp<\/strong>, said this morning:<\/p>\nIt\u2019s pretty horrifying to see just how extensive Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s nefarious activities extended. Horrifying to see how many people were involved embroiled in his network.<\/em><\/p>\nI certainly agree that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should give all the assistance he possibly can to any official body investigating this, whether it\u2019s the police, the FBI or indeed the US Congress.<\/em><\/p>\nThe same of course, would apply to Peter Mandelson, who appears to be embroiled in this as well.<\/em><\/p>\nDemocrat members of the US House Oversight Committee wrote to Windsor-Mountbatten in November asking the former prince to be questioned as part of the probe into Epstein.<\/p>\n
The committee said at the time it would seek information about Epstein and his network \u201cbased on the men\u2019s longstanding and well-documented friendship\u201d. The committee reportedly gave Windsor-Mountbatten a deadline of 20 November to respond, something Democrats said he failed to do.<\/p>\n
The Democrats are unlikely to be able to compel him to speak to them without the support of the Republicans, who chair the committee and are in the majority.<\/p>\n
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Mandelson should clear up whether a ‘lack of disclosure’ remains over his links with Epstein, minister says<\/h2>\n
In his interview with the BBC\u2019s Laura Kuenssbergg this morning, Steve Reed also suggested that Mandelson needs to clear up whether a \u201clack of disclosure\u201d remains over his links with Epstein.<\/p>\n
When asked whether he believed that Mandelson had told the entire truth about his connections to Epstein, the housing secretary replied: \u201cWell, the reason he was removed as ambassador to the US is because there were things he had not disclosed. Now I don\u2019t know how far that lack of disclosure goes. I think he should answer questions about his own life, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The latest files released by the department of justice also showed former ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson<\/strong>, was paid $50,000 by Jeffrey Epstein in two payments in June 2004, when he was a Labour MP.<\/p>\nAs a reminder, Mandelson was sacked in September over leaked emails in which he expressed his support for Epstein and urged him to \u201cfight for early release\u201d in 2008 while the disgraced financier was facing charges of soliciting sex from minors.<\/p>\n
In 2019, Epstein died in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Sky News\u2019 Trevor Phillips programme this morning, the housing secretary, Steve Reed, was asked if Mandelson should be stripped of his peerage because of his association with Epstein. He said:<\/p>\n
I think before taking any action like that, we need to understand exactly what\u2019s happened. You\u2019re asking me here about something that happened nearly 20 years ago. I don\u2019t know the full detail of it, I wasn\u2019t in government 20 years ago.<\/em><\/p>\nI don\u2019t know whether he declared it or not, and he should have done \u2013 the declaration rules had been brought in by then \u2013 so I think it would be for Peter Mandelson to explain whether or not that money was properly declared, and if not, then he will need to account for that.<\/em><\/p>\nBut I don\u2019t want to jump the gun and make assumptions. I think we need to find out exactly what happened first.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/span>A picture of Peter Mandelson in a bathrobe talking to Jeffrey Epstein, which was included in the disgraced financier\u2019s 50th \u2018birthday book\u2019.<\/span> Photograph: Birthday bookShare<\/p>\nUpdated at\u00a004.52 EST<\/p>\n
Steve Reed\u2019s comments come after the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said Andrew Mounbatten-Windsor should testify before the US Congress about his links to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n
Mounbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his titles last year amid the fallout from his friendship with the billionaire, features heavily in the latest tranche of Epstein files, released on Friday by the US justice department.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the release of the latest Epstein files, Starmer said: \u201cFirstly, I have always approached this question with the victims of Epstein in mind. Epstein\u2019s victims have to be the first priority. As for whether there should be an apology, that\u2019s a matter for Andrew.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut yes, in terms of testifying, I have always said anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that. You can\u2019t be victim-centred if you\u2019re not prepared to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
As my colleagues note in this story, the documents suggest that, a month before the Buckingham Palace invitation, Epstein had suggested he could arrange for Mountbatten-Windsor to have dinner with a \u201cclever, beautiful and trustworthy\u201d Russian woman, who was 26. Mountbatten-Windsor apparently responded that he would be \u201cdelighted\u201d to see the woman. He also asked Epstein if it was \u201cgood to be free\u201d from house arrest.<\/p>\n
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Minister calls latest image of Andrew ‘very disturbing’ and urges him to testify<\/h2>\n
The housing secretary, Steve Reed, is speaking to the BBC, a day after the latest tranche of releases from the US Department of Justice in relation to Jeffrey Epstein showed an image of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor clothed, on all fours, over a female lying supine on the floor.<\/p>\n
Asked what he thought when he saw the photograph of Andrew, Reed said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would anyone think \u2026 it is a very disturbing image and very worrying allegations, and as the prime minister said all of our thoughts need to be with those women who were the victims of what Epstein and his associates were doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the way that we can help those victims is for anybody who has any insight or information about what went on to come forward and testify. We need to shine a light on what has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mountbatten-Windsor has denied all wrongdoing in relation to his dealings with Epstein. The former prince had a long friendship with Epstein and is alleged to have sexually assaulted one of his victims, Virginia Giuffre \u2013 allegations he denies.<\/p>\n
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Updated at\u00a004.58 EST<\/p>\n
Labour party chair accuses Zack Polanski of being ‘cowardly’ for not fighting Gorton and Denton byelection<\/h2>\n
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The Labour party has accused the Green party leader Zack Polanski<\/strong> of being cowardly for not standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection on 26 February.<\/p>\nIn an interview with The Observer, the Labour party\u2019s chair, Anna Turley<\/strong>, said the fact Salford-born Polanski did not stand showed the Greens lacked \u201cconfidence\u201d to do so.<\/p>\n\u201cIt sends a strong message that they think they are in third place \u2026 That is the reality \u2013 a Green vote is a wasted vote,\u201d she said. A spokesperson for Polanski said he was waiting for the by\ufeffelection in Holborn and St Pancras.<\/p>\n
Labour is vying with the Green party to attract progressive votes to beat Reform in a byelection being framed by Nigel Farage\u2019s party as a referendum on Keir Starmer\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
It was triggered by the resignation of the former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne because of ill health.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Green Party leader Zack Polanski arrives at BBC Broadcasting House ahed of his interview with Laura Kuenssberg<\/span> Photograph: Yui Mok\/PA<\/p>\nThe Greens came third in the Gorton and Denton seat at the 2024 general election, just behind Reform UK.<\/p>\n
Although Labour won the seat with a majority of 13,000, the party has massively slid in the polls since and will face fierce competition from the opposition parties likely to make gains due to huge voter disenchantment with the government.<\/p>\n
The Green party has selected Hannah Spencer<\/strong>, a Trafford councillor and plumber by trade, to run in the byelection, while Labour has selected Angeliki Stogia<\/strong>, a <\/strong>Manchester city councillor, and Reform picked Matthew Goodwin<\/strong>, a former academic who is now a GB News presenter and hard-right activist.<\/p>\nPolanski will be interviewed on the BBC\u2019s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg politics programme shortly. Stick with us as we bring you the latest lines.<\/p>\n
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