Pressure grows on UK's Starmer over Epstein fallout

The Labour leader faced calls from opposition politicians to resign over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite knowing his links to sex offender Epstein.

Starmer was due to address Labour MPs later Monday, a day after his chief of staff and longtime aide quit for advising the embattled prime minister to make the contentious appointment.

Morgan McSweeney left his role on Sunday, depriving Starmer of his closest adviser and someone who has long acted as a shield for criticism of the flagging UK leader.

"Advisers advise, leaders decide. He made a bad decision, he should take responsibility for that," Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch told BBC radio, calling Starmer's position "untenable".

The fallout from the appointment of Mandelson, sparked by emails showing that he remained friends with Epstein long after the latter's conviction in 2008, is the most serious crisis of Starmer's 18-month premiership.

The Labour leader has been forced to U-turn on several policies since taking office in July 2024 and polls show he is the most unpopular British prime minister in history.

Several backbench Labour MPs have called for Starmer to step down but a number of leading figures have defended him, as no clear successor has emerged, and with the party facing key local elections in May.

Labour has trailed the hard-right Reform UK party by double-digit margins in polls for the past year, although the next general election is not due until 2029.

Starmer sacked Mandelson in September last year after documents published by US Congress revealed the extent of Mandelson's relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in prison in 2019.

Documents released on January 30 by the US Justice Department reignited the controversy, appearing to show that Mandelson leaked confidential UK government information to financier Epstein when he was a British minister, including during the 2008 financial crisis.

Police are investigating Mandelson, 72, for misconduct in a public office and raided two of his properties on Friday. He has not been arrested.

Starmer has apologised to Epstein's victims and accused Mandelson of lying about his ties to the financier during the vetting process for his appointment to Washington.