<p>Yesterday evening Sir Keir Starmer defended himself in Parliament, stating ‘the facts are incredible,’ but ‘nobody’ in Number 10 knew that Peter Mandelson failed security vetting. Addressing MPs, the prime minister rejected the suggestion that the government’s desire to appoint Mandelson overrode security concerns. Immediately after, we caught up with the Times’ political editor to ask, who exactly knew what when? And how does this all end?</p><br><p>Mandelson denies any wrongdoing when it comes to his relationship with Epstein.&nbsp;</p><br><p><em>This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: </em><a href="http://thetimes.com/thestory" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>http://thetimes.com/thestory</em></a></p><br><p><strong>Guest: </strong>Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times</p><p><strong>Host: </strong>Rosie Wright</p><p><strong>Producers: </strong>Sophie McNulty, Olivia Case</p><p><strong>We want to hear from you - email:</strong> <a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[email protected]</a></p><br><p><strong>Read more:</strong><a href="https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/keir-starmer-peter-mandelson-commons-speech-labour-mps-6nt3zq98l" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Keir Starmer ‘put Mandelson job before security’, say Labour MPs</a></p><p><strong>Further listening: </strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-story/id1501716010?i=1000762026993" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Can Keir Starmer survive the scandal over Mandelson and Epstein?</a></p><p><strong>Clips:</strong> Sky News, The Guardian, Keir Starmer - X, The Times, BBC</p><p><strong>Photo:</strong> Getty Images.</p><p><em>This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism&nbsp;subscribe&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.thetimes.com/subscribe/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>