LONDON (AP) 鈥 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday that he has 鈥渃onfidence鈥 in the country’s ambassador to the United States, who faces mounting criticism of his links to the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer’s defense of Peter Mandelson came after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a , who at the time was a wealthy and well-connected financier. In that album, Mandelson 鈥 in a handwritten note 鈥 called Epstein 鈥渕y best pal.鈥
to the album that was compiled by British convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell were President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and attorney Alan Dershowitz in a 鈥渇riends鈥 section, and included other letters with sexually provocative language.
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Mandelson, who took on the prestigious diplomatic role earlier this year in the wake of the Labour Party’s election victory in July 2024, has admitted knowing Epstein well and told The Sun newspaper that the comments he wrote were 鈥渧ery embarrassing to see and to read.鈥
Insisting that he has a 鈥渢remendous sense, a profound sense of sympathy” for , Mandelson said his comments were written before Epstein was indicted and that he did not have a business relationship with him.
Epstein took his own life in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, more than a decade after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
鈥淚 never saw any evidence of criminal activity,鈥 he said. 鈥淧erhaps it鈥檚 because I鈥檓 a gay man, perhaps when I knew him, perhaps when I was associated with him those years ago, as I did with my then partner and now husband, we never, ever saw any evidence or sign of this activity, which has since come to light.”
The revelations about Mandelson’s links with Epstein prompted Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, to ask Starmer whether the position of the U.S. ambassador was “tenable.”
Starmer said Mandelson, 71, has 鈥渞epeatedly expressed his deep regret鈥 for his association with Epstein.
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鈥淚 have confidence in him, and he is playing an important role in the U.K.-U.S. relationship,” he said.
A skilled political operator, Mandelson is no stranger to controversy, having twice resigned from former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government in 1998 and 2001. He subsequently became a European Commissioner for trade, before returning to frontline British politics in 2008 to serve under Blair’s successor, Gordon Brown.
Starmer considers Mandelson’s trade expertise as vital in helping to limit the scale of tariffs imposed on the import of British goods into the U.S.
Starmer鈥檚 office insisted that all due process was followed in appointing Mandelson. Spokesman Dave Pares said the ambassador had gone through 鈥渆xtensive vetting and background checks.”
For a prime minister who has had a bruising week after the resignation of his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, over a tax dispute, the Mandelson distraction is unwelcome.
Mandelson has indicated that further embarrassing revelations are likely to emerge in the coming weeks.
