UK ministers back Starmer amid renewed calls for him to quit

Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but senior British ministers have rallied behind him as he tries to contain the fallout from a scandal involving Peter Mandelson, the long-time associate of Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Starmer is set to face MPs in parliament tomorrow, where he will be pressed on how Mr Mandelson came to be appointed Britain’s ambassador to the United States in late 2024 despite failing security vetting.

The prime minister, under fire for months over the affair, said on Friday that neither he nor other ministers had been informed that Mr Mandelson had failed the clearance process, describing that omission as “unforgivable”.

He has pinned responsibility on foreign office officials for pushing through Mr Mandelson’s appointment despite warnings from security staff, and on Thursday dismissed the department’s top civil servant, Olly Robins.

Peter Mandelson was fired in September 2025

Speaking to the BBC this morning, technology minister Liz Kendall said Mr Starmer would never have chosen Mr Mandelson had he known the necessary security clearance had not been granted.

Deputy prime minister David Lammy, who was serving as foreign secretary when Mr Mandelson was sent to Washington, made the same point in an interview with the Guardian published late Saturday.

Ms Kendall argued that Mr Starmer should stay in office, saying he had “made the right call” on major issues including improving ties with the European Union and keeping Britain’s role in the Iran war limited.

“I think he is an honest man and a man of integrity who says it was a mistake to appoint him,” she told Sky News.

Mr Lammy said it was “inexplicable” that the foreign office had failed to inform Downing Street, telling the Guardian he had been “shocked and surprised” when he discovered what had taken place.

Already struggling with poor public approval after a series of policy errors, Mr Starmer has repeatedly faced scrutiny over his judgement in appointing Mr Mandelson, whose friendship with Epstein was widely known.

He removed Mr Mandelson from the post in September 2025 after fresh details surfaced about the extent of Mr Mandelson’s links to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

UK police are also examining allegations that Mr Mandelson committed misconduct in public office during his time as a Labour minister more than 15 years ago. He was arrested and later released in February.

Mr Mandelson has not been charged and denies criminal wrongdoing.