What was described as “inevitable” since the Epstein-Mandelson scandal broke in the U.K. on February 9, came to pass on June 22, as Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation as Prime Minister. The Mandelson story encompasses much of what was wrong with Starmer’s tenure. The attempt to coverup the truth was part of that story: Did Starmer know about the Epstein connection when he appointed Mandelson as Ambassador to the U.S., as seemed likely, and if so, why appoint him?
This discredited Starmer, the former head of the Crown Prosecution Services, who was thought to be squeaky clean. Peter Mandelson, known as the “Prince of Darkness” due to his conniving ways, has seen his fair share of scandals in addition to his great friendship with the pedophile Epstein, and his backroom deal granting Peter Thiel’s Palantir complete access to the meta-data files of the National Health Service (NHS) is under investigation as a major crime.
Starmer’s record low polls stem from his failure to rescue the British economy from the damage done by fourteen years of Tory rule. Youth unemployment is at the highest level in years, the chronic problems with the NHS show little improvement, and 50,000 pensioners have been plunged into poverty. Racial tensions have spiked, driven in part by the unresolved problem of immigration. Further, Starmer has demonstrated his loyalty to the geopolitical interests of the City by leading the charge of the so-called E3 for a major boost in weapons and defense spending to aid Ukraine, and prepare for a war with Russia. He has also continued to fund arms sales to Israel, while presiding over a brutal crackdown against pro-Palestinian groups and censorship of free speech.
Starmer was swept into office in elections in July 2024 in what is called the “loveless landslide,” with Labour winning 411 seats out of 650 in the House of Commons. His victory was not attributed to his personal competence or charisma, but due to the abject failures of the succession of Tory prime ministers, such as Boris Jphnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, who wrecked the economy by applying the Thatcher model—privatization, deregulation, free trade. This formula benefits the corporate cartels of the City of London in the tradition of the British empire. It depends on loot stolen from the former colonies, which requires a bigger defense budget. It also increases domestic unrest, as the population of the UK are also looted, as real wages fall and unemployment and part-time jobs increase, along with inflation from defense spending and corporate bailouts.
