Starmer averts ethics probe over Mandelson appointment but faces more pressure

File photo: Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference at Downing Street in London. (AP)

London: British PM Keir Starmer on Tuesday averted a parliamentary inquiry over his choice of Peter Mandelson, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as British ambassador to Washington, but failed to quell questions about whether he bent the rules to make the controversial appointment.On Tuesday, lawmakers voted 335 to 223 against asking the Committee of Privileges to investigate whether Starmer had misled the House of Commons on several matters, including by saying “full due process” had been followed around the appointment. If the committee had found Starmer deliberately misled parliament, he would have been expected to resign.

Starmer had criticised the attempt, led by the opposition Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch, to launch an investigation, calling it a political stunt timed to sway voters before local and regional elections on May 7. He ordered lawmakers in his centre-left Labour Party to oppose an investigation, resulting in the overwhelming rejection. Badenoch said it was a sign of Starmer’s weakness that he had to use such an order.Reverberations from the appointment of Mandelson have left Starmer fighting for his job, and at odds with his civil service. Starmer is angry he wasn’t told that Mandelson had failed security vetting, while officials say they felt pressure from Starmer’s office to confirm the appointment quickly at the start of President Trump ‘s second term. Starmer’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, acknowledged Tuesday he’d made a “serious mistake” by recommending Mandelson, but denied pressuring officials to ignore security concerns. McSweeney told lawmakers on the house of commons’ foreign affairs committee that “the prime minister relied on my advice, and I got it wrong.” He apologised to Epstein’s victims, saying “I am sorry for any part this controversy has played in causing further hurt or distress.”Starmer fired Mandelson in Sept after new details emerged about the ambassador’s friendship with Epstein.McSweeney resigned in Feb saying he took responsibility for the ambassadorial appointment. McSweeney said that he felt Mandelson’s experience as a former European Union trade commissioner would helped in striking 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.