Starmer Apologizes for Appointing Mandelson but Casts Blame on Foreign Office

Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, told parliament on Monday it was his decision to appoint now-disgraced Peter Mandelson to be ambassador to Washington but blamed the Foreign Office for not informing him about a failed security review.Mr. Starmer faced more than two hours of intense questioning and calls for his resignation in Parliament on Monday. “There was a judgment that I made that was wrong,” Mr. Starmer told lawmakers. “I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson.”Mr. Starmer said he was unaware that the Foreign Office had overruled a security review that recommended against Mr. Mandelson’s appointment. He said he would have pulled the appointment if he had known about the failed security check.“I know many members across the House will find these facts to be incredible,” Mr. Starmer said. “To that, I can only say they are right. It beggars belief.”Mr. Starmer’s comments were met with laughter and jeers from members of the opposition.Mr. Starmer had previously said the process of Mr. Mandelson’s appointment had followed the book. Mr. Mandelson was widely known to have had a relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and to have had business ties to the Kremlin and Beijing, but information that Mr. Mandelson had not passed a security review was first made public last week.Mr. Starmer fired the top civil servant in the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, after news reports on the vetting were published last week.“Everyone is watching. It is finally time for the truth,” the Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, told Mr. Starmer. She noted that the reasons why Mr. Mandelson failed the security review remain unknown, adding that Mr. Starmer is no longer fit to govern.“Everyone makes mistakes. It is how you face up to those mistakes that shows the character of a leader. Instead of taking responsibility for the decisions he made, the prime minister has thrown his staff and his officials under the bus,” Ms. Badenoch said.A Green Party representative, Ellie Chown, said Mr. Mandelson’s appointment was “unforgivable” and asked Mr. Starmer if he would take responsibility by resigning. Mr. Starmer did not directly answer but repeated his assertion that he should have been given information about the security check.The prime minister fired Mr. Mandelson in September after evidence surfaced that he had lied about the extent of his ties to Epstein, who killed himself in prison in 2019. The United States Department of Justice, in January, released a new cache of emails that showed Mr. Mandelson continued to maintain contact with Epstein after the disgraced financier’s 2008 conviction on child sex offenses.Mr. Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords in disgrace in February as Scotland Yard announced it was opening an investigation into him. In his resignation letter to the Labour Party, Mr. Mandelson said he was “sorry for ever having known” Epstein and apologized “to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now.”Peter Mandelson is seen outside his home at London on April 17, 2026. Jordan Pettitt/PA via APThe Metropolitan Police arrested Mr. Mandelson days later on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The arrest stemmed from emails showing he may have provided Epstein an internal government report outlining options for the United Kingdom to raise funds in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.Another message seemed to show Mr. Mandelson agreeing to lobby government officials on Epstein’s behalf to reduce taxes on bankers’ bonuses.Mr. Mandelson is free without bail as the investigation continues. He has not been charged and has previously denied any wrongdoing.Mr. Mandelson had been a major Labour figure for decades and was nicknamed the Prince of Darkness for his ruthless political style. Local elections are scheduled for May 7 and Labour is expected to suffer big losses in the vote.The head of the populist Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, said last week that Mr. Starmer had “misled Parliament and lied to the public” and urged voters to reject Labour.

Starmer Apologizes for Appointing Mandelson but Casts Blame on Foreign Office

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