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

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has fired the country’s ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement in the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary Stephen Doughty says the decision came in the wake of the publication this week of emails Mandelson sent to Epstein in the 2000s, in which he gave his support to the disgraced financier even when he was facing jail for sex offenses.

Doughty says the emails showed that the “depth and extent” of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was “materially different” from what was known when he was appointed ambassador to Washington last year in the wake of the Labour Party’s election victory.

Mandelson, who took up his post in February this year after what the government described as an “extensive” vetting process, has voiced his deep regret over his previous links with Epstein and said he knew nothing about his criminal activities.

“In light of the additional information in the emails written by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador to the United States,” Doughty says.

In particular, he points to Mandelson’s suggestion that Epstein’s first conviction in 2008 was “wrongful and should be challenged.”

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 told him before he began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

The decision to fire Mandelson comes just 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 US President Donald Trump to the UK next week, which is likely to be met with protests and some controversy. Last week Starmer also saw his deputy, Angela Rayner, quit over a tax error on a home purchase.