Morgan McSweeney, the chief of staff of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, resigned Sunday as part of the fallout surrounding the revelations of deep links between Jeffrey Epstein and British politician Peter Mandelson, who Starmer had appointed as ambassador to Washington last year. McSweeney took “full responsibility” for advising Starmer to make the appointment in his announcement of his resignation.
“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,” McSweeney said in a statement.
Recently released files by the U.S.’s Justice Department show a deeper connection between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein than was previously known. For instance, it was revealed that Epstein had paid Mandelson $75,000 between 2003 and 2004.
Mandelson is also accused of leaking sensitive government information to Epstein. The emails seem to show Mandelson giving Epstein advance notice of the EU bailout of Greece and revealing to Epstein the existence of a secret tunnel connecting the prime minister’s residence to the Ministry of Defense.
Starmer thanked the outgoing McSweeney for his service to Starmer’s government. “It is largely thanks to his dedication, loyalty and leadership that we won a landslide majority and have the chance to change the country,” Starmer said. Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party last Sunday and vacated his seat in the House of Lords last week.
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