LONDON (AP) 鈥� British Prime Minister faced calls Thursday to resign after it emerged that Peter Mandelson was initially denied security clearance for the post of ambassador to the United States, which he was eventually fired from over his close links to the disgraced sex offender .
Following the revelation in the Guardian newspaper, the government said Starmer was not aware that the Foreign Office had overruled a security vetting process for Mandelson to become U.K. ambassador to Washington 鈥渦ntil earlier this week.鈥�
Starmer has previously insisted due process was followed in the appointment, and that Mandelson, who was fired in September 2025, had lied about the extent of his links to Epstein.
Once Starmer was informed, a spokesperson for the government said the prime minister 鈥渋mmediately instructed officials to establish the facts about why the developed vetting was granted, in order to enact plans to update the House of Commons.鈥�
Opposition lawmakers said Starmer should resign if he had misled Parliament.
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, said Starmer is 鈥渄efinitely in resigning territory,鈥� while Ed Davey, the leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said Starmer 鈥渕ust go鈥� if he misled Parliament and lied to the British public.
Starmer’s premiership faced its biggest crisis in February after the by the U.S. Justice Department showed the closeness of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein.
In particular, Starmer’s political judgment was questioned after emails in Epstein files released by the U.S. government suggested Mandelson had passed on sensitive 鈥� and potentially market-moving 鈥� government information to the disgraced financier in 2009, when he was a member of the Labour government.
Starmer has repeatedly to the British public and to the victims of Epstein鈥檚 sex trafficking for believing what he has termed 鈥淢andelson鈥檚 lies.鈥� Throughout his apologies, he has said both in and out of Parliament that the necessary vetting rules related to appointing someone to the plum job of U.S. ambassador were followed.
British police subsequently launched a criminal probe, in London and western England. Mandelson was on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was released on bail the following morning after more than nine hours of questioning.
Mandelson, who has denied doing anything improper, has not been charged.
Days before Mandelson’s arrest, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as , was also arrested on the same charge. Like Mandelson, King Charles III’s younger brother was a close associate of Epstein.
In late 2024, Starmer appointed Mandelson to the ambassador’s post, despite , who . Mandelson’s trade expertise was considered a major asset in trying to persuade the Trump administration not to slap heavy tariffs on British goods, and seemed to pay off when the countries struck a trade deal a few months later.
Starmer fired Mandelson in September over an earlier revelation of his links to Epstein.
released since the release of Epstein files, including some of those related to the vetting process, confirmed that Starmer chose Mandelson despite warnings that it could expose the government to 鈥渞eputational risk.鈥� The government says it will release a further trove of documents related to Mandelson鈥檚 appointment, after being forced to do so by Parliament.
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