Politics
Oli Dugmore says shunning paedophiles is “fringe” at top of Labour
Soft left New Statesman digital editor Oli Dugmore was a guest on BBC Question Time on 5 February 2026. And he had a scathing verdict on the normalisation of paedophilia at the top of the Labour Party.
Oli Dugmore on BBCQT
Oli Dugmore said that he generally doesn’t like to dismiss people according to the worst thing they’ve ever done – but wouldn’t want to be friends with, let alone work with, someone who rapes children. But he said that view is “fringe” among senior Labour figures. Instead, they look at Epstein fanboy Peter Mandelson and think “that’s our man in Washington”:
He was also clear that Starmer knew all along about Mandelson’s closeness to serial child-rapist and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Starmer didn’t need the security services to tell him, because a quick Google search revealed plenty.
Of course he knew.
Featured image via the Canary