Allies back Starmer as Mandelson and Epstein leave the UK leader fighting for his job

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves after the multinational virtual summit and press conference at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, Friday April 17, 2026 (Tom Nicholson/Pool Photo via AP) 2026-04-19T09:41:40Z LONDON (AP) — Senior Cabinet ministers on Sunday rallied around U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose leadership is teetering over his decision to give Britain’s most important diplomatic job to Peter Mandelson , a scandal-tarnished politician and friend of Jeffrey Epstein . Starmer will face restive lawmakers in Parliament Monday to fight for his job after the explosive revelation that Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the United States despite failing security checks . Starmer says he’s “furious” that he wasn’t told at the time, in January 2025, that an intensive vetting process had recommended Mandelson not be given security clearance. The Foreign Office, which oversees diplomatic appointments, cleared him anyway. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said that if Starmer had known, “he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador.” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told Sky News on Sunday that Starmer “is a man of integrity and there is no way he would have proceeded” with Mandelson’s appointment had he known. The top civil servant in the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, was forced to resign on Thursday — though allies say he was just doing his job and is being made a scapegoat. Robbins is expected to give his own version of events to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday. Simon McDonald, who was top civil servant in the Foreign Office until 2020, said Robbins had been “thrown under the bus.” He told the BBC that vetting information was highly sensitive and “would never be shared” with the prime minister or his staff. (