British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday sacked the U.K. ambassador to the United States, Lord Peter Mandelson, over his links to the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty used a statement in the House of Commons to reveal Whitehall’s decision to dismiss the veteran left-wing Labour operative after the publication this week of emails Mandelson sent to Epstein.
“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 Foreign Office statement made clear.
Britain’s Labour Party leader Keir Starmer (L) has sacked the UK ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson (R). The two are seen here as Starmer leaves the stage during the London Labour Regional Conference in central London on January 28, 2023. ( JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
“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,” it added.
In the missives Mandelson, who had previously spent four years in Brussels as Britain’s European Commissioner, urged Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before the latter was sentenced to 18 months in prison, as Breitbart News reported.
“I think the world of you,” Mandelson told him before he began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
Several lawmakers in the United Kingdom including the leader of the opposition and even lawmakers from Starmer’s own Labour party had called for his removal even after Mandelson had previously denied any problem with the relationship.
The emails were published after the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a 50th birthday album compiled in 2003 for Epstein, who at the time was a wealthy and well-connected financier.
In that album, Mandelson called Epstein “my best pal” in a handwritten note.
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