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Trouble for UK PM Starmer as Epstein row lingers, resignation calls grow over Mandelson vetting
Keir Starmer acknowledged that it was “unforgivable” he had not been informed earlier about the failed vetting.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to address Parliament on Monday as pressure mounts over his handling of the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the United States.
Mandelson had already been removed from the ambassadorial role in September last year after disclosures about the extent of his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. At the time, Starmer apologised for the appointment.
The controversy has deepened after fresh revelations that the 72-year-old had failed a key security vetting process before his appointment, triggering calls for Starmer’s resignation, reported news agency Reuters.
Top official sacked
Facing mounting backlash, Starmer acknowledged that it was “unforgivable” he had not been informed earlier about the failed vetting. He reiterated that he would “set out the relevant facts” before lawmakers on Monday.
The fallout has already claimed a senior figure, with top foreign office official Olly Robbins being sacked, reported Reuters.
Robbins is expected to testify before a parliamentary committee on Tuesday, a session likely to further intensify scrutiny of the government’s handling of the affair.
Opposition steps up resignation calls
Opposition leaders have seized on the controversy, accusing Starmer of misleading both Parliament and the public.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said he had “misled Parliament over Mandelson, misled the country and is taking the public for fools,” reported the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said Starmer had “showed catastrophic misjudgment.”
In a sharply worded letter, Badenoch escalated her attack, writing: “This has been a tawdry and shaming affair for you and your party, and for this country.”
She added that the episode had “damaged our relationship with the United States and insulted the victims of the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein,” while also warning it had “undermined our national security by giving the highest diplomatic post to an individual that the security services found to be of 'high concern'.”
Cabinet colleagues defend Starmer
Despite the growing political storm, senior members of Starmer’s government have rallied behind him. Foreign secretary David Lammy said that had the prime minister been aware of the vetting failure, “he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador.”
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall was in a interview with Sky News, when she echoed the same stance: “There is no way that he would have proceeded with that whatever the so-called embarrassment, he would have thought that was wrong, and he would not have done it."
Within Labour, the controversy has unsettled lawmakers already uneasy over falling poll numbers. Starmer had earlier managed to contain internal dissent in February when some MPs raised concerns over Mandelson’s appointment, but the latest revelations appear to have reopened those divisions.
(With Reuters , AP inputs)
