UK ambassador to US fired over Epstein ties

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has abruptly fired the U.K.’s ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, following the release of emails revealing he had closer ties to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein than were previously known.

The string of emails, released by The Sun newspaper on Wednesday, showed Mandelson expressing sympathy and support for Epstein in 2008 as he battled his first conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. 

Mandelson, a longtime Labor Party politician and strategist, told Epstein to “fight for early release” in legal appeals before Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison. “I think the world of you,” Mandelson told him before he began his sentence.

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In a statement in the House of Commons on Thursday, Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty acknowledged that the decision to fire Mandelson came after the publication 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 said in a statement. 

“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.

The revelations followed last week’s release by Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight Committee of a 2003 birthday album compiled for Epstein. In that album, Mandelson referred to Epstein as “my best pal” in a handwritten note.

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In that album, Mandelson called Epstein “my best pal” in a handwritten note.

The disclosures prompted opposition calls for action. Conservatives and the Scottish National Party demanded Mandelson’s resignation, while the Liberal Democrats pressed for an investigation.

Mandelson was one of the key figures behind the party’s revival under Tony Blair.

In the 1990s, he was central to Labor’s rebranding as “New Labor,” working closely with Blair and Gordon Brown. He served in senior Cabinet posts, including trade secretary and Northern Ireland secretary under Blair and business secretary under Gordon Brown.

He also served as the European Union’s trade commissioner from 2004 to 2008 before returning to domestic politics later that year as Lord Mandelson, a life peer in the House of Lords.

Most recently, Mandelson visited President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in May during the announcement of a limited U.S.–U.K. trade deal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.