“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has no plans to resign over revelations that his scandal-tainted pick for U.K. Ambassador to Washington was appointed despite failing security checks,” officials said on Friday (April 17, 2026).
Mr. Starmer says he was unaware that the Foreign Office had overruled the recommendation of security officials in early 2025 not to give Peter Mandelson the job. Many considered Mr. Mandelson a risky appointment because of his past friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The top Foreign Office civil servant, Olly Robbins, took the fall for the decision and resigned late on Thursday (April 16, 2026). Mr. Starmer is due to make a statement in Parliament on the issue on Monday (April 20, 2026).
Epstein's longtime accountant testifies on his wealth, business ties
That's unlikely to end the danger to the Prime Minister over his fateful decision to appoint Mr. Mandelson, a trade expert and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, as envoy to the Trump administration. It was a calculated risk that backfired spectacularly, and could bring down the Prime Minister.
