Helen Pattison, Socialist Party Executive Committee
The latest tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files have taken the crisis facing Keir Starmer’s Labour government to new depths. Starmer’s position is now terminal, though it could drag on. He will hope that the resignation of his most senior adviser Morgan McSweeney and his head of communications will buy him more time.
Donald Trump, himself shown by the files to be dripping with filth, has characteristically made sure that the rest of the capitalist establishment internationally doesn’t escape exposure. And the latest release, three million pages, is only around half of what exists.
“Epstein’s network is an MRI of the establishment”, Financial Times columnist Edward Luce commented. It shows more than just the disgusting wrongdoings of one convicted paedophile, but a system rotten to the core; a system in which rich and powerful men believe they can exploit their power to sexually abuse with impunity; a system based on ruthless and systematic exploitation of the vast majority for the profits of an increasingly small capitalist elite. Luce also warned: “A budding Vladimir Lenin… might see the files as kindling awaiting a revolutionary spark.”
In Britain, confidence in all of the capitalist institutions is crumbling; that includes a collapse of support for the establishment political parties. The main reason is, despite working harder, millions of families have seen their disposable incomes stagnate, pay is not keeping up with higher costs and public services are crumbling. In other words, capitalism is showing itself utterly incapable of improving the lives of any but the mega-rich. Millions will see the revelations as confirmation of how utterly rotten the ruling capitalist class, parliament and the system itself, is.
Of all the revelations and fall out, it is the confirmation of Starmer’s knowledge of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein that has triggered the new phase of crisis in Britain. What can people conclude other than that, in Starmer’s eyes, the relationship was secondary to the potentially positive role he might play for British capitalism as US ambassador.
It is the weakness of British capitalism that made the question of appointing the most effective (in Starmer’s eyes) ’ Trump-wrangler’ so pressing, in the vain hope of gaining some advantage.
This isn’t the first scandal involving business moguls, royals or politicians around varying scales of corruption, and sexual exploitation. In 2022, as many as 8.6% of serving MPs had allegations against them for ‘sexual misbehaviour’. An earlier report had found that 1 in 5 workers in parliament had faced sexual harassment in the year before.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is trying to capitalise on the scandal, including claiming concern for the victims. But she and all the other defenders of the capitalist system will never prioritise the rights of women. Sexism and other forms of discrimination and oppression are built into the foundations of capitalism. Her party in government presided over the deepening crisis faced by victims of sexual assault and the justice system, including the Sarah Everard murder by a serving police officer.
In the UK today, under 3% of reported rapes result in a conviction. Many victims wait over two years for a conviction, longer than people wait in all other types of cases. The result is that victims, already navigating organisations with their own sexism and violence against women scandals, such as the police, feel unable to carry on with their cases. 60% of cases moving towards trial are closed by the victims who feel they can’t continue.
The Tories made the crisis worse in their time in power and now Labour, in power since 2024, have been slow to implement even limited changes to address the backlog. Labour’s pledge to halve violence against women and girls will not be achieved while austerity cuts and privatisation continue.
Councils continue to cut services, including those which specifically support women fleeing violence and abuse. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council has closed its dedicated women’s refuge since Labour came to power. Vida Sheffield has also seen its funding slashed and the service closed since Labour was elected.
Today the government is reallocating council funding between councils. The vast majority of any ‘increase’ in funding comes from increases in council tax, rents and charges. Yet during the first decade of the Tories’ rule, domestic violence and women’s services lost up to 75% of funding. The Labour government doesn’t have plans to reinstate that money.
Various politicians, royals, bankers and business leaders feign moral outrage at the friendship between Mandelson and Epstein. But these same politicians were happy to work with the twice-disgraced Mandelson when it suited their system.
Still, the fact that this story has so shaken the political establishment is a sign of the system’s fragility. Last week, Wes Streeting offered resident doctors a better pay deal than previously, most likely not wanting to face the current political crisis at the same time as new nationwide strike action.
Anger at the sleaze, corruption and sexual exploitation in and around parliament can be turned into action against this rotten system. The key action needed is discussion in the trade unions and all working-class organisations about the building of a mass workers’ party with a programme against sexism and capitalism.
We can have no faith in these politicians to reverse the fact that six in ten women are turned away from refuges, or that 43% of women seeking support return to violent partners because they have nowhere to go. Because to change that would mean mass council house building, returning funding to councils for women’s services, increasing benefits levels and much more.
That’s why anyone outraged by this latest crisis should think about standing alongside other socialists and campaigners in May’s council elections. It’s our next chance to pose an alternative to Starmer’s austerity agenda and fight for the funding for services which could actually improve people’s lives.
