UK fires ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson over his links to Jeffrey Epstein

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LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday fired the country's ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Just days before the arrival of President Donald Trump to the U.K. on his second state visit, Starmer dismissed the veteran British politician in the wake of the publication of emails that Mandelson sent to Epstein, in which he gave his support to the disgraced financier, even when he was facing jail for sex offenses.

Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told Parliament the emails pointed to the “depth and extent” of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein being “materially different” from what was known when he was appointed ambassador to Washington last year after the Labour Party’s election victory.

In particular, Doughty pointed to Mandelson’s suggestion in one email that Epstein’s first conviction in 2008 was “wrongful and should be challenged.”

Mandelson took up his Washington post in February after what Starmer's government described as an “extensive” vetting process. The diplomat has voiced his deep regret over his previous links with Epstein and said he knew nothing about his criminal activities.

“Being ambassador here has been the privilege of my life,” Mandelson wrote in a letter to embassy staff that was reported by the BBC. “The circumstances surrounding the announcement today are ones which I deeply regret. I continue to feel utterly awful about my association with Epstein 20 years ago and the plight of his victims."

The decision to fire Mandelson comes a day after Starmer said he had “confidence” in him. It’s the latest blow to the prime minister ahead of a state visit by Trump to the U.K. next week, which is likely to be met with protests and some controversy.

Epstein took his own life in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, more than a decade after his initial conviction.

On Wednesday, The Sun newspaper published emails that it said showed Mandelson telling Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

“I think the world of you,” Mandelson reportedly told him before he began his sentence in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Mandelson's links to Epstein came under scrutiny after the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a 50th birthday album compiled in 2003 for Epstein that purportedly included a note from U.S. President Donald Trump. In that album, Mandelson called Epstein “my best pal."

Last week Starmer's deputy, Angela Rayner, quit over a tax error on a home purchase following days of speculation over her future.

Following Rayner’s resignation, Starmer carried out a major reshuffle, a forced government reboot after a rocky 14 months in office that have seen his popularity plunge.

“Mandelson might have gone but, just as with Angela Rayner, Starmer dithered when he needed to be decisive," said Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party. "He has no backbone and no convictions.”

Starmer now faces questions over his appointment of Mandelson, who is no stranger to controversy, having twice resigned from former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government in 1998 and 2001.

After his second resignation from Blair's government, Mandelson became a European Commissioner when Britain was still in the European Union, before returning to front line British politics in 2008 to serve under Blair’s successor, Gordon Brown.

Mandelson’s trade expertise was considered a major asset in trying to persuade the Trump administration not to slap heavy tariffs on British goods, and seemed to pay off when the countries struck a trade deal in May, though some details of the agreement have yet to be finalized.

He is also a skilled -– critics say ruthless -– political operator whose mastery of political intrigue earned him the nickname “Prince of Darkness.”

It’s rare for a politician, rather than a career civil servant, to be given a key U.K. ambassadorial post. Mandelson was not an obvious choice as emissary to the Trump administration: he once called Trump a “danger to the world," words he later said were “ill-judged and wrong.”

The government said James Roscoe, the U.K. deputy head of mission in Washington, will serve as interim ambassador and oversee Trump’s state visit. Roscoe is a career diplomat and former communications chief to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

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Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.