Britain’s former PM calls for ethical reforms in public life
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 February 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The UK’s former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who appointed Peter Mandelson as a cabinet minister, has called for an ethical shakeup in public life in the wake of the Epstein scandal. Mr Brown also defended Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a man of principle who could tackle the problem.
Also in the programme: Russia attacks more energy infrastructure in Ukraine; political analysis of President Trump’s racist Truth Social post; and will the Japanese prime minister's decision to call a snap election pay off?
(IMAGE: Former prime minister Gordon Brown speaks at a child poverty event, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Child Poverty Action Group (Cpag), at Somerset House, in central London, Thursday November 6, 2025 / CREDIT: James Manning/PA Wire)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.0 | Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:12.2 | Coming to you live from London, I'm James Kamara Sami. |
| 0:15.5 | And we begin today with the political crisis at the top of the UK government that has flowed |
| 0:20.5 | from the latest release of |
| 0:21.8 | documents by the US Department of Justice related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey |
| 0:26.6 | Epstein. The revelations about the depth and breadth of Epstein's worldwide web of contacts |
| 0:32.7 | have cost several people their jobs, one British royal his title, and now they are threatening to bring down the British Prime Minister, Sarkir Stama. |
| 0:41.5 | That is because of his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to the United States in 2024, |
| 0:48.2 | despite knowing, as Stama admitted this week, in Parliament of Mandelson's continuing contact and friendship with Epstein |
| 0:55.3 | following the financier's conviction in 2008 for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14. |
| 1:02.5 | Well, Mandelson was sacked from his job last September after an earlier tranche of Epstein files |
| 1:08.0 | revealed how close those contacts had been. What is new in the latest |
| 1:12.6 | documents is the allegation that Mandelson leaked market-sensitive information to Epstein when he was |
| 1:18.5 | in government during the global financial crisis. Mandelson, who continues to deny wrongdoing, |
| 1:24.5 | has stepped down from his position in the UK House of Lords. |
| 1:28.3 | He is now the subject of a criminal investigation. |
| 1:31.5 | In the last few hours, the Metropolitan Police have confirmed that they have searched two of his residences. |
| 1:37.1 | Well, there's quite a lot to pick over here. |
| 1:38.7 | The ethics, the intersection of wealth, power and politics, and indeed the jeopardy for Kier Starmer. |
| 1:44.8 | In a moment, we'll hear from the former UK Labour Prime Minister |
| 1:48.2 | who appointed Peter Mandelson to his government |
... |
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