British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced calls Thursday to resign after it emerged that Peter Mandelson was initially denied security clearance for the post of ambassador to the United States, which he was eventually fired from over his close links to the disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Following the revelation in the Guardian newspaper, the government said Starmer was not aware that the Foreign Office had overruled a security vetting process for Mandelson to become U.K. ambassador to Washington "until earlier this week."
Starmer has previously insisted that due process was followed in the appointment and that Mandelson, who was fired in September 2025, had lied about the extent of his links to Epstein.
Once Starmer was informed, a spokesperson for the government said the prime minister "immediately instructed officials to establish the facts about why the developed vetting was granted, in order to enact plans to update the House of Commons."
Opposition lawmakers said Starmer should resign if he had misled Parliament.
