Updated on: February 6, 2026 / 5:45 AM EST / CBS News
London — So far, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hasn't been linked to any suggested wrongdoing revealed by the Epstein files. But his decision to give another politician, whose ties to Jeffrey Epstein have been laid bare by the documents, the vital job of ambassador in Washington D.C. has drawn a ferocious backlash.
As the most tumultuous week in his premiership ends, Starmer is facing calls from his political opponents, and some party allies, to step down from Britain's top job.
What did he know, and when did he know it? Those are the big questions facing Starmer amid outrage over his decision last year to appoint Peter Mandelson as Britain's top diplomat in the United States, despite Mandelson's known ties to Epstein.
Documents released by the U.S. Congress last year showed Mandelson maintained contact with Epstein after the convicted pedophile was released from jail, and the latest massive dump of files by the Justice Department last week raised damning questions about him possibly sharing state secrets with the American financier.
Starmer may have hoped he'd dealt with the Mandelson scandal when he fired him from the U.S. ambassadorship last September. That came after the U.S. House of Representatives released files showing Starmer's Labour Party colleague had maintained a close relationship with Epstein for years after his 2008 conviction on charges of solicitation of prostitution and procuring a child for prostitution.
But last Friday brought a political earthquake. The latest documents released by the Department of Justice appear to show that while Mandelson was a member of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cabinet, and as that cabinet grappled with the seismic aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, he shared confidential, market-sensitive U.K. government information with Epstein. The information could feasibly have benefited the New York financier and his clients.
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