UK Ambassador to the US Lord Peter Mandelson has been sacked by Prime Minister Keir Starmer following growing pressure over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
In a statement on Thursday morning, the Foreign Office said: “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 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.
“In particular, Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information. In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes he has been withdrawn as Ambassador with immediate effect.”
The Labour peer’s sacking came after The Sun reported on Wednesday an email Lord Mandelson sent to Epstein in June 2008 following Epstein’s conviction in Florida for procuring a child for prostitution and for soliciting a prostitute.
In the email, Lord Mandelson reportedly wrote: “The whole thing has been years of torture and now you have to show the world how big a person you are, and how strong. Your friends stay with you and love you.”
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister tried to defend the peer after it emerged he had written a birthday note to Epstein in 2003 in which he described the late financier as his “best pal”.
Sir Keir said he still had “confidence” in Lord Mandelson and “due process was followed” during his appointment
But he soon faced calls to dismiss the peer following reports he had backed Epstein, now dead, while the financier was being investigated for sexual offences.
Speaking to the YouTube channel Harry Cole Saves The West on Tuesday, Lord Mandelson described the remarks as “very embarrassing” and said Epstein has been an “albatross around his neck”.
“One, I feel a tremendous sense, a profound sense of sympathy, for those people, those women, who suffered as a result of his behaviour and his illegal criminal activities,” said Lord Mandelson.
“And secondly, I regret very, very deeply indeed carrying on that association with him for far longer than I should have done, and I regret very much that I fell for his lies.
“I fell and accepted assurances that he had given me about his indictment, his original criminal case in Florida, like very many people, I took at face value what he said.
“With hindsight, with fresh information, many years later, we realised that we had been wrong to believe him. He’s a charismatic criminal liar.”
PoliticsHome reported on Wednesday that Lord Glasman, the only Labour figure to be invited to President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year, had warned that it was an “unwise” appointment.
“When I was in Washington DC for the inauguration, maybe 1,000 people showed me photos of Mandelson and [Jeffrey] Epstein together, blowing out birthday candles and buying clothes together. And I did say then that this maybe was an unwise appointment,” the peer said.
The departure of Lord Mandelson, who was appointed as the UK’s ambassador in Washington in December, is likely to prove challenging for Starmer diplomatically, due to Lord Mandelson’s strong relationship with Trump’s administration.
It also comes at the same time as Trump himself is under pressure for his own associations with Epstein.
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