UK’s Starmer to address Labour lawmakers as he fights for survival amid spreading Epstein scandal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s position hangs by a thread as he tries to persuade his Labour Party’s lawmakers not to kick him out of his job after just a year and a half in office.

Starmer lost his chief of staff yesterday and is rapidly shedding support from Labour legislators after revelations about the relationship between former British ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer is due to address Labour lawmakers behind closed doors later today in an attempt to rebuild some of his shattered authority.

The political storm stems from Starmer’s decision in 2024 to appoint Mandelson to Britain’s most important diplomatic post, despite knowing he had ties to Epstein.

Starmer fired Mandelson in September after emails were published showing that he maintained a friendship with Epstein after the late financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. Critics say Starmer should have known better than to appoint Mandelson, 72, a contentious figure whose career has been studded with scandals over money or ethics.

A new trove of Epstein files released in the United States has brought more details about the relationship, and new pressure on Starmer.

Starmer apologized last week for “having believed Mandelson’s lies.”

He promised to release documentation related to Mandelson’s appointment, which the government says will show that Mandelson misled officials about his ties to Epstein.

Police are investigating Mandelson for potential misconduct in public office over documents suggesting he passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Mandelson has not been arrested or charged, and does not face any allegations of sexual misconduct.

Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, took the fall for the decision by quitting yesterday, saying that “I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.”

McSweeney has been Starmer’s most important aide since he became Labour leader in 2020, and is considered a key architect of Labour’s landslide July 2024 election victory. But some in the party blame him for a series of missteps since then.