Keir Starmer Resists Pressure To Resign As Epstein-Linked Ambassador Scandal Deepens

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has no plans to resign after revelations of misconduct in his office. Election tainted by scandals Britain’s ambassador to Washington was appointed despite failed security checks, officials said Friday.

Starmer said he was unaware that the Foreign Office had overridden advice given by security officials in early 2025. Peter Mandelson work. Many considered Mandelson a risky appointment due to his past friendship with the convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein.

Olly Robbins, a senior State Department official, took responsibility for the decision and resigned late Thursday. Starmer is expected to make a statement to Parliament on the issue on Monday.

This is unlikely to end the danger the prime minister faces over his fatal decision to appoint Mandelson, a trade expert and senior statesman of the ruling Labor Party, as the Trump administration’s envoy. It was a calculated risk that could backfire spectacularly and bring down the prime minister.

Opposition politicians expressed disbelief that Starmer could have been unaware that Mandelson had failed his vetting. Starmer’s office said he only found out this week.

The Prime Minister’s principal secretary, Darren Jones, said on Friday that the “recommendation was that Peter Mandelson should not be appointed to the role” and that the Foreign Office had ignored this. He said it was “surprising” but within the rules.

He said no government minister had been briefed on the security assessment.

Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the allegations that the prime minister did not know were “completely ridiculous”.

He told the BBC: “This story doesn’t add up. The Prime Minister is making fools of us.” “All roads lead to resignation.”

Ed Davey, leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said Starmer “must go” if he misled Parliament and lied to the British public.

Starmer has repeatedly insisted “due process” was followed in the appointment, which was announced in December 2024. Mandelson took office in Washington in February 2025 after passing a security review.

But documents released by the government in March after being pushed by Parliament showed Starmer ignored red flags raised by his staff. He had been warned about Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein. Died in prison in 2019exposed the government to “reputation risk”.

Starmer was sacked mandelson In September 2025, after evidence emerged that she had lied about the extent of her contacts with Epstein.

Starmer’s premiership faced its biggest crisis in February. Release of millions of pages of Epstein-related documents A report by the U.S. Department of Justice showed the closeness of Mandelson’s relationship with the financier even after Epstein was convicted in 2008 for sex crimes involving a minor.

Emails between the men suggested Mandelson had passed sensitive and potentially market-moving government information to the disgraced financier in 2009, when he was a member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government.

British police subsequently launched a criminal investigation and Two of Mandelson’s homes were searched In London and western England. It was Mandelson He was arrested on February 23 on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

He was released without bail while the police investigation was ongoing. Mandelson has previously denied wrongdoing and not collected. He is not facing sexual abuse allegations.

Starmer has he apologized I thank the British public and Epstein’s victims for believing what he calls “Mandelson’s lies”.