Starmer’s Chief Of Staff Quits Over Appointment Of UK’s Epstein-Tied Ambassador

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Chief of staff resigned Sunday amid uproar over appointment Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US, despite his ties Jeffrey Epstein.

Morgan McSweeney said he took responsibility for advising Starmer on appointing 72-year-old Mandelson to Britain’s most important diplomatic post in 2024.

McSweeney said in a statement: “The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. It damaged trust in our party, our country and politics.” “When asked, I recommended the Prime Minister make this appointment and I take full responsibility for that recommendation.”

Starmer is facing a political storm and questions about his decision after newly released documents. A vast trove of Epstein files A report made public in the United States alleged that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender while he was the UK government’s business secretary during the 2008 financial crisis.

Starmer’s government has promised to release its own emails and other documents about Mandelson’s appointment, saying they would show Mandelson misled officials.

The Prime Minister apologized this week for “believing Mandelson’s lies”.

He acknowledged that when Mandelson is named to the top diplomat post in 2024, the review process found that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued after Epstein’s 2008 conviction. But Starmer suggested at the time that “none of us knew the depth of the darkness” of that relationship.

Some MPs said Starmer was ultimately responsible for the scandal.

Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Keir Starmer must take responsibility for his own terrible decisions.”

Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and senior statesman of the ruling Labor Party, was not arrested or charged.

Metropolitan Police officers searched Mandelson’s London home and another property linked to him on Friday. Police said the investigation was complex and would require “significant further evidence collection and analysis”.

The UK police investigation is focusing on possible misconduct in public office and Mandelson has not been charged with any sexual offences.

Starmer was there fired Mandelson In September, he resigned as ambassador amid earlier revelations about his Epstein ties. But critics say emails recently released by the US Department of Justice highlight serious concerns about Starmer’s decision. They argue that he should have known better than appointing Mandelson in the first place.

The new revelations include documents suggesting Mandelson shared sensitive government information with Epstein after the 2008 global financial crisis. They also include records of payments totaling $75,000 that Epstein made in 2003 and 2004 to accounts linked to Mandelson or her husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva.

In addition to his relationship with Epstein, Mandelson has twice previously been forced to resign from senior government positions due to financial or ethics scandals.

Starmer had faced mounting pressure over the past week to fire McSweeney, who is seen as a key adviser at Downing Street and a close ally of Mandelson.

On Sunday, Starmer described McSweeney as a central figure in the conduct of Labour’s last election campaign and the party’s landslide victory in 2004. The Mandelson scandal was not mentioned in his statement.