British Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s chief of staff has resigned over the controversy surrounding Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. Morgan McSweeney said he advised Starmer to appoint Mandelson, despite his ties to Jeffr.<\/b>
\nBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s chief of staff resigned Sunday over the furor surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Morgan McSweeney said he took responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, 72, to Britain’s most important diplomatic post in 2024.
\u201cThe decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,\u201d McSweeney said in a statement. \u201cWhen asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.“
Starmer is facing a political storm and questions about his judgement after newly published documents, part of a huge trove of Epstein files made public in the United States, suggested that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was the U.K. government\u2019s business secretary during the 2008 financial crisis.
Starmer\u2019s government has promised to release its own emails and other documentation related to Mandelson\u2019s appointment, which it says will show that Mandelson misled officials.
The prime minister apologized this week for \u201chaving believed Mandelson\u2019s lies.\u201d He said \u201cnone of us knew the depth of the darkness\u201d of the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein when the former was vetted for the diplomat job.
But a number of lawmakers have called for Starmer to resign.
\u201cKeir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions“, said Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party.
Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, has not been arrested or charged.
Metropolitan Police officers searched Mandelson\u2019s London home and another property linked to him on Friday. Police said the investigation is complex and will require \u201ca significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis.\u201d
The U.K. police investigation centers on potential misconduct in public office, and Mandelson is not accused of any sexual offenses.
Starmer had fired Mandelson in September from his ambassadorial job over earlier revelations about his Epstein ties. But critics say the emails recently published by the U.S. Justice Department have brought serious concerns about Starmer\u2019s judgment to the fore. They argue that he should have known better than to appoint 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 in 2003 and 2004 from Epstein to accounts linked to Mandelson or his husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
Aside from his association with Epstein, Mandelson previously had to resign twice from senior government posts because of scandals over money or ethics.<\/p>\n