Allies back Starmer as Mandelson and Epstein leave the UK leader fighting for his job

LONDON (AP) 鈥� Senior Cabinet ministers on Sunday rallied around U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose over his decision to give Britain鈥檚 most important diplomatic job to , a scandal-tarnished politician and friend of .

Starmer will face restive lawmakers in Parliament Monday to fight for his job after the explosive revelation that Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the United States despite .

Starmer says he鈥檚鈥渇urious鈥� that he wasn鈥檛 told at the time, in January 2025, that an intensive vetting process had recommended Mandelson not be given security clearance. The Foreign Office, which oversees diplomatic appointments, cleared him anyway.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said that if Starmer had known, 鈥渉e would never, ever have appointed him ambassador.鈥�

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told Sky 草莓传媒 on Sunday that Starmer 鈥渋s a man of integrity and there is no way he would have proceeded鈥� with Mandelson鈥檚 appointment had he known.

The top civil servant in the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, was forced to resign on Thursday 鈥� though allies say he was just doing his job and is being made a scapegoat. Robbins is expected to give his own version of events to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

Simon McDonald, who was top civil servant in the Foreign Office until 2020, said Robbins had been 鈥渢hrown under the bus.鈥� He told the BBC that vetting information was highly sensitive and 鈥渨ould never be shared鈥� with the prime minister or his staff.

All the main opposition parties have called on Starmer to resign. Right-of-center Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister鈥檚 position is 鈥渦ntenable.鈥� Ed Davey, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said Sunday that the government is 鈥渋n perpetual crisis, and I don鈥檛 think they can get out of that unless Keir Starmer moves aside.鈥�

Starmer鈥檚 Labour Party holds a large parliamentary majority, so power to topple him lies with his own lawmakers, who are already glum about the party鈥檚 dire poll ratings.

Starmer in February, when some Labour lawmakers called for him to resign over the Mandelson appointment. But he could face a leadership challenge after local and regional elections on May 7, in which Labour is expected to do badly.

Some Labour lawmakers think it would be damaging to change leaders at a time of global instability, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and with three years until a national election must be called.

Others despair at the prime minister鈥檚 since he led Labour to a in July 2024. Starmer has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair and ease the cost of living, and has been forced into repeated policy U-turns.

Critics say the Mandelson appointment reveals the prime minister’s lack of judgment. Documents released by the government in March, after being forced to by Parliament, showed Starmer was warned by his staff that Mandelson鈥檚 friendship with Epstein, who , exposed the government to 鈥渞eputational risk.鈥�

But his expertise as a former European Union trade chief and contacts among global elites were considered assets in dealing with President Donald Trump’s administration.

He lasted less than nine months in the job. Starmer in September 2025 after evidence emerged that he had lied about the extent of his links to Epstein.

The by the U.S. Department of Justice in January brought more revelations, showing that Mandelson鈥檚 relationship with the financier continued even after Epstein鈥檚 conviction in 2008 for sexual offenses involving a minor.

Emails also suggested Mandelson had passed on sensitive, and potentially market-moving, government information to Epstein in 2009 after the global financial crisis.

British police launched a criminal probe and on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues. Mandelson has previously denied wrongdoing and . He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

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