File photo: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference in Downing Street in London. (AP)
London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday avoided a parliamentary investigation into his selection of Peter Mandelson, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, but he failed to allay questions about whether he had broken the rules to make this controversial appointment.On Tuesday, lawmakers voted 335 to 223 against asking the Privileges Committee to investigate whether Starmer misled the House of Commons on several matters, including saying “due process” had been followed over the appointment. If the committee had found that Starmer had deliberately misled Parliament, he would have been expected to resign.Starmer criticized the attempt led by opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch to launch an investigation, describing it as a political ploy aimed at influencing voters ahead of local and regional elections scheduled for May 7.
He ordered lawmakers in his center-left Labor Party to oppose the investigation, prompting an overwhelming rejection. Badenoch said that having to use such an order was a sign of Starmer’s weakness.The reverberations of Mandelson’s appointment have left Starmer fighting for his job, and at odds with his civil service. Starmer is angry that he was not told that Mandelson failed the background check, while officials say they felt pressure from Starmer’s office to quickly confirm the appointment at the start of President Trump’s second term.
Starmer’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, admitted on Tuesday that he had made a “huge mistake” by recommending Mendelsohn, but denied pressuring officials to ignore security concerns. “The Prime Minister relied on my advice, and I got it wrong,” McSweeney told lawmakers on the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. He apologized to Epstein’s victims, saying: “I am sorry for any role this controversy played in causing further harm or distress.
“Starmer fired Mandelson in September after new details emerged about the ambassador’s friendship with Epstein.McSweeney resigned in February, saying he took responsibility for appointing the ambassador. McSweeney said he felt Mandelson’s experience as a former European Union trade commissioner would help in concluding a trade deal with the Trump administration. “I don’t think the prime minister would have chosen Mandelson if Kamala Harris had been elected president,” McSweeney said.