Keir Starmer sacks US ambassador Lord Mandelson over Epstein links

Keir Starmer has sacked US ambassador Lord Mandelson over his links with paedophile, sex trafficker, and financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The Prime Minister asked the foreign secretary to withdraw Mandelson as ambassador to the US after an urgent question in the House of Commons on Thursday morning.

A Foreign Office statement said: “In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the Prime Minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador.

“The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.

“In particular, Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information.

“In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes, he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.”

Mandelson resigned after the decision, foreign office minister Stephen Doughty said.

The Government has declined to say whether Mandelson has had the Labour whip removed.

The US ambassador had faced calls to be axed as the UK’s top diplomat in the US in recent days.

He recently admitted that he remained friends with Epstein, even after the American’s first indictment for soliciting underage sex.

Reports in both The Sun and Bloomberg revealed emails in which Mandelson told Epstein he was “following [Epstein] closely and here whenever you need”.

Mandelson is also reported to have told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and told him, “I think the world of you” the day before he began his sentence.

Mandelson previously said he regretted “very, very deeply indeed carrying on” his association with the financier “for far longer than I should have done”, speaking to The Sun’s Harry Cole Saves The West programme.

Both Tory opposition leader Kemi Badenoch and some Labour MPs had called for him to be sacked.

Starmer insisted he had “confidence” in his ambassador at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before he asked for Mandelson to be withdrawn.

‘It raises huge questions for Government’

Tory MP Neil O’Brien, who tabled the Commons urgent question about the UK ambassador to the US and the appointment process, has said Mandelson’s appointment raises “huge questions” for the Government.

The Liberal Democrats have said the allegations surrounding Mandelson “cast a damning shadow” and questions remain about what the Government knew.

“Yesterday, the Prime Minister stood by Lord Mandelson’s appointment to confirm that rigorous background checks had taken place. So what has changed since then?” Helen Maguire MP, the party’s defence spokeswoman, asked.

“There remain questions over what the Government knew and when about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with the sex offender, whom he previously described as his best pal.”

The foreign office minister argued that any candidates for ambassador positions are subject to “routine, extensive vetting and background checks as a matter of course”.

“I point [MPs] to the formal processes outlined in the Diplomatic Service Code, which highlights the robust security clearance and vetting processes,” Doughty said.