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Britain’s Prime Minister Kier Starmer at 10 Downing Street in London on July 16, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON:
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was warned that appointing an associate of convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as his envoy to Washington carried a “reputational risk”, government documents showed Wednesday.
The due diligence report drawn up before Starmer named Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the United States in late 2024 was included in the first tranche of thousands of documents due to be published about the controversial appointment.
The disclosure is likely to renew pressure on Starmer, who has faced repeated questions about his judgement and already faced down calls to resign over his decision.
The report in December 2024 noted a series of reports detailing Mandelson’s links with Epstein, who was convicted of sex crimes in Florida in 2008, including soliciting a minor.
It said their relationship “continued across 2009-2011”, beginning when Mandelson was a government minister and continuing after the end of the UK’s last Labour government in 2010.
It also noted that Mandelson “reportedly stayed in Epstein’s house while he was in jail in June 2009”.
Lawmakers last month ordered the Labour government to release tens of thousands of emails, messages and documents detailing how Mandelson was vetted for the role.
The documents published Wednesday ran to about 150 pages, a fraction of the number of documents set for disclosure to parliament.
Starmer has insisted that Mandelson “lied repeatedly” to officials about the extent of his friendship with the late Epstein, before and during his tenure as ambassador.
But the prime minister has also admitted that he knew Mandelson had maintained a relationship with Epstein after his 2008 conviction.
