Chief of staff to British premier resigns amid Mandelson scandal tied to Epstein

Morgan McSweeney on Sunday resigned as chief of staff to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer amid fallout over the Peter Mandelson scandal linked to new Epstein revelations.

"After careful reflection, I have decided to resign from the government," McSweeney said in his resignation statement, which was published by the BBC.

McSweeney admitted that the decision to appoint Mandelson as the UK ambassador to the US last year "was wrong."

"The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself," he said.

"When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice," he said.

In a statement following McSweeney's move, the British prime minister said it was an "honour working with Morgan McSweeney for many years."

"Our party and I owe him a debt of gratitude, and I thank him for his service," he said.

Another reaction to the resignation came from John McDonnell, a Labour Party lawmaker, who wrote on US social media company X that McSweeney's resignation is the "right measure," but added: "Let's remember the old adage: Advisers advise but ministers decide."

Richard Burgon, another Labour Party lawmaker, defined it as an "important first step."

"The Labour General Secretary must set up an independent inquiry into the practices that McSweeney & Mandelson undertook in the Labour Party," he said on X.

Burgon suggested there is "a lot to do to rid the Party of the nasty factionalism that has left Labour so unpopular with the public."

On Thursday, Starmer said he was "sorry" for believing Mandelson's "lies" and appointing him as ambassador to the US, as pressure continued to mount on him after he admitted to knowing about Mandelson's ties with convicted sex offender Epstein.

Mandelson was sacked in September, but new Epstein files suggested he shared confidential information with the convicted sex offender when he was a business secretary in 2009.

Mandelson has also stepped down from the House of Lords, and the Labour Party.

The US Justice Department recently released more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last November.

The materials include photos, grand jury transcripts, and investigative records, though many pages remain heavily redacted. Epstein survivors and victims' relatives say the release falls short of what the law requires and omits much vital information.

Epstein was found dead by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.