British PM Keir Starmer had gone to bat for Peter Mandelson, his ambassador to the US who wrote a note that was included in sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's so-called birthday book—but it wasn't enough to save the latter's job. Bloomberg reports that Starmer has fired Mandelson, after some other apparent evidence emerged to change the prime minister's mind. "In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador," the UK's Foreign Office said in a statement.
The agency added, per the AP: "The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment." The emails referenced by the outlet were messages from Mandelson to Epstein, published Wednesday by the Sun, that were sent right before Epstein was to be sentenced to 18 months in prison for soliciting prostitution from a minor. "Fight for early release," read one of Mandelson's emails to his "best pal"—what he called Epstein in his birthday book letter—after which he added, "I think the world of you."
The UK's Foreign Office chief, Stephen Doughty, is defending his agency's hiring process, insisting there was "routine extensive vetting and background checks as a matter of course," per the BBC. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, meanwhile, wrote on X that "Mandelson might have gone but ... Starmer dithered when he needed to be decisive." She added, "There are now serious questions over what Starmer knew and when. We deserve to know."
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