British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged Monday he made a "wrong judgment" in appointing Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington, saying he would have withdrawn the decision had he been aware of security concerns.
Starmer placed the blame squarely on Foreign Office officials, who he said failed to tell him about the security concerns and approved Mandelson's appointment despite them.
Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons that ”I would not have gone ahead with the appointment” had he known the truth. He called it "frankly staggering” that officials didn’t tell him about the failed vetting.
"At the heart of this, there is also a judgment I made that was wrong,” Starmer added. "I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson.
"I take responsibility for that decision, and I apologize again to the victims of the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who were clearly failed by my decision.”
