British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses parliament on Monday, facing calls to resign over the dispatch of senior Labour Party veteran Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S., even though he had failed a vetting process. Mandelson, 72, was sacked in September after revelations about the depth of his ties to the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and Starmer apologised for appointing him in the first place.
But the government said last week it had found out that Mandelson had failed a security vetting process carried out before he took up his post in February 2025, heaping pressure on Starmer, whose popularity has sunk since he won a huge majority for Labour at a national election in 2024.
Opponents have accused Starmer of lying and incompetence, and say his position is no longer tenable.
Three weeks before local elections in which Labour is expected to suffer heavy losses, the resurgence of the scandal has triggered new questions about Starmer’s grip on government, although no senior Labour lawmakers have urged him to go.