British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday dismissed the UK’s ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, following revelations of his close ties with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The move came after the publication of a series of emails Mandelson sent to Epstein, Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty told Parliament.
“In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
It added that the emails demonstrated Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was “materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.”
On Wednesday, The Sun newspaper published emails in which Mandelson urged Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before the disgraced financier was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
In one message, Mandelson told Epstein, “I think the world of you,” ahead of his sentence in June 2008.
The disclosures followed the release by Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee of a 50th birthday album compiled for Epstein in 2003, when he was still a wealthy and influential figure. In a handwritten note in the album, Mandelson referred to Epstein as “my best pal.”