UK’s former US envoy quits Labour Party over fresh reports of ties with Epstein |
LONDON (Reuters) — Former British government minister Peter Mandelson said he had resigned as a member of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party after new reports of his ties with late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson, who was fired by Starmer as Britain’s ambassador to the United States last year after previous revelations about his connections to Epstein, said he did not wish to cause “further embarrassment” to Labour.
“I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this,” Mandelson said in a letter to the Labour Party, which was shared with British media.
Mandelson said he believed that allegations about financial payments to him by Epstein, which were published by British media based on files released by the US Justice Department, were false and said he would investigate them. The Financial Times said the files showed that accounts connected to Mandelson had received $75,000.
“While doing this I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from........