BBC political correspondent Joe Pike asks Badenoch why she did not raise her concerns about Mandelson 14 months ago when he was appointed British ambassador to the US.

On whether she chose to look away, the Conservative leader replies: "That is complete nonsense."

Badenoch says Conservative backbench MPs Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Dame Caroline Dinenage, both former ministers, previously said the appointment was wrong.

She adds: "Lots of Conservative MPs said it. We are a strong team, I don't need to say every single thing at every single moment, especially as I believed the prime minister had carried out security vetting."

Image source, Lucy North/PA Wire

Badenoch says she believes Starmer will have to be "dragged out of Number 10" as she invites Labour MPs to bring forward a confidence vote in the prime minister in the House of Commons.

She adds: "If they want the change they know the country needs, come and speak to my whips and let's talk seriously about a vote of no confidence to force the moment."

Badenoch says Starmer's remarks on Thursday morning were "shameful" and that he "should be apologising for ignoring the security advice rather than apologising for believing Mandelson".

During his own speech earlier, the prime minister said Mandelson underwent "security vetting carried out independently by security services" - saying that the checks gave the former minister "clearance" to take up the ambassadorial role.

Image source, Lucy North/PA Wire

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch says "Britain is not being governed" as she begins her reply to Starmer's press conference by holding her own event in central London.

She says she believes on Wednesday night the prime minister and his team were not thinking about the future of Nato, the cost of living or how to reindustrialise the country.

Badenoch adds that Starmer and his team were "once again desperately ringing" Labour MPs "trying to save his job".

The opposition leader says Starmer's position is "clearly untenable" but adds it is for Labour MPs to "decide when he goes", noting: "It's a question of when, not if he goes."

Starmer is asked whether his message to Labour MPs who are now sceptical about his leadership is that removing him as prime minister would make a Reform UK government more likely.

He says he believes we should be talking about the cost of living, his Pride in Place programme, stabilising the economy, uniting Britain and embracing its diversity.

"Every minute we spend not talking about that is an absolute minute wasted," he adds.

This brings to an end Starmer's questions from the media. We will continue to bring you the latest updates and analysis.

Kiran Stacey from the Guardian reads out statements from angry Labour MPs and asks Starmer whether his authority has been "fatally undermined".

Starmer says he shares the "frustration and anger" of his MPs.

The vast majority of people coming into public life do so to serve their communities, he says. When someone goes against this, people feel angry because it "undermines what they stand for... the politics they believe in", he adds.

Starmer says his government is working to change the country "for the better", and that he intends to "go on doing that vital work".

ITV Political Editor Robert Peston asks whether Starmer would fight back if his party decided to remove him as leader.

Starmer replies saying he is changing the country for the better. He points to inflation coming down, interest rate cuts and his party's work on child poverty.

"Am I frustrated that the focus is not on that and on other things because of the misbehaviour and deceit of other people? Of course I am" he says, adding that he will remain focused on government work that he hopes will "affect millions of lives".

Image source, Peter Nicholls/PA Wire

Now a question from Sky's Beth Rigby. She points out that MPs are calling for Starmer to step down because his position has become "untenable". She asks Starmer to justify his position: why are those MPs wrong?

Starmer repeats previous comments - that he was wrong to appoint Mandelson, that he "regrets" the decision, and that Mandelson "lied" throughout the vetting process.

"I had no reason at the time to know they were lies", but found out subsequently, Starmer says.

He adds: "I have apologised for the fact that I appointed him in the first place".

The BBC's Chris Mason is first up to question the PM.

He asks why Mandelson was appointed as US ambassador despite already resigning twice from government and having an ongoing relationship with a convicted paedophile.

What does Starmer say to those who say he has "run out of steam", Mason adds.

The PM says the already public knowledge about Mandelson and Epstein's relationship was the reason why questions were asked during Mandelson's vetting process.

He says the answers Mandelson gave - about whether he had stayed at Epstein's house after his conviction - intentionally created the impression that he "barely knew" Epstein.

When further emails came to light in September, Starmer says, he learnt that was not the truth. Starmer adds that having asked Mandelson further questions about their relationship, including whether he received gifts from Epstein, he was sacked.

The PM says he regrets appointing him in the first place, and says that's why he has apologised.

Image source, Peter Nicholls/Pool via Reuters

Starmer turns to what was meant to be the main reason for the speech – until the Mandelson questions overshadowed everything – community funding and "pride in place".

The PM says we must "reverse the devastating decline in our communities" before announcing an extra £800m to help 284 neighbourhoods across the country as part of the Pride in Place programme.

"Pride is the social glue," he says after pointing to a pride in place sign behind him.

Chris Mason
Political editor

This feels like a prime minister scrapping for his future, his back against the wall and fighting to be heard against a wall of noise, some beyond his control, some of his own creation.

The wider message here adds up to him arguing that he's the best front man for Labour’s coming future – a tussle, he thinks, with Reform UK and the Green Party of England and Wales.

After his apology to Jeffrey Epstein's victims, the prime minister promises to pursue truth and the "integrity of public life".

He says: "In this country, we will not look away, we will not shrug our shoulders."

Starmer adds that he will do everything in his power to ensure accountability is delivered.

This is greeted with applause, before he moves the focus of his speech to his love for his country and the Pride in Place programme.

We are expecting Starmer to field questions from journalists shortly.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Angry, punchy and with his back against the wall - that was an opening to this speech totally rewritten to account for the situation the prime minister finds himself in.

There was a sequence of apologies in there - "sorry" the prime minister repeatedly said - ensnared, as he feels, in what he calls Lord Mandelson’s "lies".

Starmer now says he shares "the anger people feel" when those in positions of power escape scrutiny.

He says he wants to release the Mandelson files "as quickly as possible", adding that he wanted to talk about them at PMQs yesterday.

But he says it is against police advice, because it could "prejudice future investigations or legal processes".

He describes it as "frustrating from a personal point of view", but says he won't take "politically tempting" steps that risk justice for victims.

Epstein's victims have "lived with trauma that most of us can barely comprehend", and seen accountability "delayed and too often denied", Starmer says.

"I am sorry," he says to victims. "Sorry for having believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him."

Starmer acknowledges how it was publicly known that Peter Mandelson knew Jeffrey Epstein.

"But none of us knew the depth and the darkness of that relationship," he says.

The PM adds that information that has come up now wasn't known at the time of his appointment as ambassador.

Mandelson was asked directly about their relationship, Starmer says, including whether he had stayed with Epstein after his conviction.

Starmer says later on he was asked if he had accepted gifts from Epstein and been transparent about their relationship.

Mandelson "portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew," the PM adds, and says when it became clear that wasn't true he was sacked.

No one should hold public office if they can't meet the "basic test of honesty," he says.

Image source, Reuters

Keir Starmer immediately begins by addressing some of the issues around the Mandelson case.

Starmer says he entered politics later in life and points to his career in the criminal justice system.

He adds that he did not enter politics for personal gain or status but to make the country "fairer, safer and more secure".

He says that he believes people enter politics because they believe in service and duty.

"That is not why Mandelson did it," he says.

He adds that a sense of duty only matters if the standards of public health are upheld.

"Serious allegations and serious evidence has emerged concerning Mandelson's conduct including his relationship with Epstein," he adds.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Seconds into his speech, and the word "Mandelson" crosses the prime minister’s lips.

The essence of his message so far — he and plenty of others in politics are decent, and Lord Mandelson is not, he claims.

Watch live at the top of the page - and stay here for all the key lines.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is in East Sussex today for a speech on the government's Pride in Place programme aimed to invest in local communities.

Starmer will then be taking questions - and we expect many will be centred on Lord Mandelson.

We'll have the top lines from his speech here but you can also follow along by pressing watch live at the top of the page from 11:00.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Hello from a sports centre in East Sussex.

The press pack are cooped up in a waiting room with photos of local sporting exploits on the wall and the bar menu on a blackboard.

Lager is £2.20, which sounds like a good deal on the face of it.

We’ll be hearing from the prime minister here shortly. He wants to talk about the revival of town centres and his vision for the country — in contrast to Reform UK and the Green Party.

But he can expect an avalanche of questions about his judgement and Lord Mandelson. The Westminster reporting lobby are here in very significant numbers.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

You are going to hear a lot about Morgan McSweeney in the next few hours and days.

McSweeney has been central to the Starmer project - and he's currently chief of staff in Number Ten.

He has also been very close to Lord Mandelson.

McSweeney is often referred to as Mandelson's protege. Although it's never been officially confirmed, it's widely thought he lobbied for Mandelson to become US ambassador - despite controversies around his relationship with Epstein.

A number of Labour MPs have wanted McSweeney out for some time. They think he is too factional - and dismissive of the left of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

But the anger is now focussed on his relationship with Mandelson. Senior Labour figures speculate that he could be sacrificed as part of this scandal.

But it's hard to over-emphasise how central McSweeney has been to the prime minister. Losing him would be a significant moment for Starmer's Downing Street.

And of course, there are plenty who would point to the old maxim that “advisors advise and ministers decide”.

And ultimately it is the prime minister who would have signed off on Mandelson's appointment.