The air in the Great Hall of Chequers, the Prime Minister’s official country residence, was stuffy – and it wasn’t just because dozens of journalists from across the world were crammed in.

In the minutes before Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump entered the room, there were intermittent moments of excited chatter and complete silence.

The atmosphere was tense, crackling. This wasn’t a typical bilateral press conference from two world leaders.

All of us knew that at some point, one of these 60 reporters would surely raise a subject that causes both of these men enormous anxiety for different reasons.

Lord Mandelson was fired as the UK ambassador to the US less than a week ago over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the same man who is still causing an enormous amount of domestic pres

See Full Page