Last week, the issue resurfaced when The Guardian revealed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had granted Peter Mandelson a security clearance for the position in January 2025 despite a negative assessment of his background. The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer rejected calls for resignation provoked by the recent developments in the Peter Mandelson case during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in Parliament. This is the second time this week that Keir Starmer has faced tough questioning in Parliament. He has been under pressure for months due to his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, an influential but controversial figure in the Labour Party with ties to Jeffrey Epstein, as the ambassador to the United States. Starmer eventually dismissed Mandelson last September, accusing him of “systematically lying” about his connections to the American sex offender who died in prison in 2019. Former Foreign Office high-ranking official Olly Robbins, fired by Starmer following these revelations, testified before a parliamentary committee about the “constant pressure” from Downing Street during Mandelson’s nomination as ambassador to the United States. Starmer, however, claimed on Wednesday that Robbins’ testimony had “cleared him of all allegations.” He was accused of misleading Parliament when he asserted that “all necessary procedures” were followed during the review of Mandelson’s file. The reasons for the positive assessment of Mandelson’s appointment have not been made public. British media have highlighted concerns about Mandelson’s ties to China through his consulting firm. Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch mentioned links between Mandelson and Russia, citing a report stating that Mandelson “remained on the board of the Kremlin-linked defense company Systema long after Putin’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014.” She questioned why the Prime Minister wanted to appoint a man with ties to the Kremlin as an ambassador to Washington.
