UK PM Starmer Faces "Judgment Day" Over Epstein Pal Mandelson's Appointment
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing for a showdown with the senior official he fired over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, as calls for the prime minister to resign grow.
The controversy stems from Starmer's decision to appoint veteran Labour politician Peter Mandelson (Lord Mandelson) as Britain's ambassador to the United States in late 2024/early 2025, despite Mandelson's well-known past associations with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The scandal has escalated dramatically in recent days due to revelations about security vetting failures, leading to intense political pressure on Starmer.
As a reminder, Mandelson, a senior New Labour figure and former EU Trade Commissioner, has long faced questions over his friendship with sex-offender Epstein, and these ties were public knowledge when Starmer nominated him for the prestigious Washington role.
Starmer has said he was aware of the basic relationship but claims Mandelson "lied repeatedly" about the extent of contact.
He later sacked Mandelson in September 2025 after further details emerged about the depth of those links, including allegations of sharing sensitive information.
Starmer apologized to Epstein victims and accused Mandelson of betraying the country.
The appointment was always controversial, with critics questioning the judgment in placing someone with such baggage in a top diplomatic post involving close US-UK relations.
However, things have heated up recently after new reports emerged last week revealing that Mandelson failed his security vetting for the ambassador role.
Security officials recommended against clearance due to reputational and other risks, but Foreign Office officials overruled this and approved him anyway.
As The FT reports, papers published by the Cabinet Office last month include a letter from the then head of the civil service, Lord Simon Case, on November 11 2024, setting out the process before the appointment.
Case’s note, first reported by Sky News, said:
“You should give us the name of the person you would like to appoint and we will develop a plan for them to acquire the necessary security clearances and do due diligence on any potential conflicts of interest or other issues of which you should be aware before confirming your choice.”
Other papers have revealed that Jonathan Powell, Starmer’s national security adviser, found Mandelson’s appointment in December 2024 “weirdly rushed”.
Mandelson failed the vetting process by security officials, but was given security clearance nevertheless by Sir Olly Robbins, the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office.
Starmer is facing widespread calls to resign from opposition parties and some within Labour circles.
“He is taking the public for fools,” Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, said on Friday. “We know that No 10 was told that Mandelson had failed his vetting because journalists told them in September last year. This leaves us with two possibilities: either the Prime Minister is lying or he is so incompetent that he is unfit to run the country.”
“Either way his position is untenable,” she said.
Ed Davey, who heads the Liberal Democrats, also said on Sky News that Starmer had shown “catastrophic misjudgment and that’s why we have said he needs to go.”
Allies are standing by Starmer.. for now...
“Peter Mandelson shouldn’t have been appointed the ambassador,” Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said on Sky News on Monday.
“The prime minister, never mind myself, accepts that was a mistake.”
“I have absolutely no doubt at all, knowing the PM as I do, that had he known that Peter Mandelson had not passed the vetting, he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador,” Lammy, who was foreign secretary at the time, told the Guardian.
Starmer is due to make a statement and face grilling from MPs in the House of Commons today (Monday), which many are calling his "judgment day."
Starmer has repeatedly told Parliament and the public that "full due process" and proper vetting were followed.
He now claims he was not informed that Mandelson had failed the checks - describing it as "staggering" and "unforgivable."
He says he only learned this in the past few days and is "absolutely furious."
Within hours of the story breaking, Starmer reportedly forced out Robbins, who is expected to appear before a parliamentary committee soon (potentially clashing with the government's narrative).
Allies of Robbins have told British media including the Sunday Times that the former civil servant was being scapegoated.
Officials speaking to Bloomberg argue that Starmer had signaled privately that he was relaxed about Mandelson’s previously known links to Epstein, Russia and China, leading Robbins and his team to feel they were doing the prime minister’s bidding by disregarding concerns and approving his clearance regardless.
Meanwhile, Lord Gus O’Donnell, former head of the civil service, wrote in The Times newspaper that Starmer now faced “one of the worst crises in relations between ministers and mandarins of modern times”.
He added: “The dismissal of Sir Olly risks having a serious and sustained chilling effect on serving and prospective civil servants.”
The outcry over the Mandelson appointment is leaving Starmer in a vulnerable position.
Losses at the May 7 elections could open the premier up to leadership challenges, with the Sun reporting that Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner held a “secret meeting” on Friday