The Chief of Staff to the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, resigned on Sunday amid a scandal surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK Ambassador to the United States, despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, UNN reports with reference to AP.
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Morgan McSweeney stated that he took responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint 72-year-old Mandelson to Britain's most important diplomatic post in 2024.
"The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. It has damaged our party, our country, and trust in politics itself," McSweeney said. "When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make this appointment, and I take full responsibility for that advice."
Starmer faced a political storm and questions about his judgment after recently released documents, part of a vast collection of Epstein files made public in the United States, indicated that Mandelson had sent confidential market information to the convicted sex offender when he was the UK government's business minister during the 2008 financial crisis.
Starmer's government has promised to release its own emails and other documentation related to Mandelson's appointment, which it says will show that Mandelson misled officials.