Starmer's chief of staff resigns in Epstein scandal

TT

Updated 15.49 | Published 15.37

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Archive photo. Photo: Peter Nicholls /AP/TT

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigns as a direct result of scandals revealed in the Epstein files.

The decision may be a way to protect the prime minister.

In a statement, the British Prime Minister's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney says that the spin surrounding the fired ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, has damaged the country:

"The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and confidence in politics itself," the statement says, according to the BBC.

Mandelson had close contacts with the late, previously convicted, American financier Jeffrey Epstein. McSweeney said he was responsible for Mandelson being appointed ambassador in 2024, and that it was the “wrong” decision and that he takes “full responsibility” for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson.

Criticism is growing within the ruling Labour Party and among senior MPs that party leader and Prime Minister Starmer should also resign because of Mandelson’s previous close contacts with Epstein, before he took his own life in custody in 2019.

Mandelson has previously withheld details of his close contacts with Epstein. The former influential Labour MP Mandelson has not been charged with any sexual offences in his contacts with Epstein, but there is an ongoing police investigation in the UK.