Starmer admits mistake appointing Epstein’s friend as ambassador as leadership teeters
UK prime minister, under pressure to resign by opponents, says officials did not tell him about Peter Mandelson’s failed vetting
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged on Monday that he made the wrong judgement when he picked Jeffrey Epstein’s friend Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington, batting away a barrage of calls to resign over a scandal that has left his leadership teetering.
Starmer said he would have withdrawn the appointment if he had known Mandelson had failed security checks, as he tried to explain why Mandelson was given the UK’s most important diplomatic post. Starmer placed blame squarely on Foreign Office officials who he said failed to tell him about the security concerns and approved Mandelson’s appointment despite them.
Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons that “I would not have gone ahead with the appointment” had he known the truth. He called it “frankly staggering” that officials did not tell him about the failed vetting.
“At the heart of this, there is also a judgement I made that was wrong,” Starmer added. “I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson.”
“I take responsibility for that decision, and I apologise again to the victims of the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who were clearly failed by my decision.”