by WorldTribune Staff, February 9, 2026 Real World News
The Epstein Files have knocked out two top officials in British Prime Minister Keri Starmer’s administration, who resigned within hours of each other. Bettors and political analysts are reportedly calculating the odds of Starmer surviving the scandal.
Tim Allan, Starmer’s recently appointed communications director, resigned on Monday, hours after his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney stood down.
“I have decided to stand down to allow a new No. 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success,” Allan said in a statement.
McSweeney took “full responsibility” for advising Starmer to appoint Lord Peter “Prince of Darkness” Mandelson as ambassador to the United States despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
The appointment of Mandelson came under further scrutiny following the massive document dump of Epstein Files from the U.S. Department of Justice in which apparent communications between Epstein and Mandelson were made public.
“According to the released files, the longtime Labour spin doctor allegedly used his previous government positions to pass confidential, potentially market-moving information to Epstein during the 2008 financial crisis,” Breitbart’s Kurt Zindulka noted. “Mandelson, who described the American pedophile as his ‘best pal,’ also reportedly received some $75,000 in payments from Epstein.”
Starmer admitted last week in the House of Commons that he was personally aware that Mandelson had continued his friendship with Epstein even after Epstein was convicted on child prostitution charges.
The Spectator’s James Heale noted: “The DOJ’s initial email dump in September exposed the closeness of his (Mandelson’s) relationship with Epstein, with whom he shared a love of power and money. It was revealed that Mandelson had suggested Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a child for prostitution was wrongful and should be challenged. Sacked in disgrace, his humiliation was complete last week when further emails suggested that he was leaking state secrets to the pedophile financier. Now questions around the circumstances of Mandelson’s appointment threaten to consume the Starmer government and the British Labour party he leads. As one minister puts it: ‘No one knows quite exactly where this is going to end.’ ”
“It remains to be seen if offering up McSweeney as a sacrificial lamb will suffice to save Starmer’s skin,” Zindulka wrote. “Starmer’s strategy so far has been to raise the prospect of the party losing power to Nigel Farage if he is ousted as PM to warn off a Labour rebellion.”
The BBC reported on Monday that King Charles “has made his first public intervention in the Epstein scandal, saying Buckingham Palace is ready to support the police as they consider allegations against his brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.”
British police are assessing whether there are grounds to investigate a complaint which reported that Andrew, who has been stripped of his royal titles, for suspected misconduct in public office and breach of official secrets.
“The King has made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.
Meanwhile, a Norwegian ambassador has resigned as she faces scrutiny over her contacts with Epstein, the country’s Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry announced Mona Juul’s resignation on Sunday, days after she was suspended as Norway’s ambassador to Jordan. That followed reports that Epstein left the children of Juul and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, $10 million in a will drawn up shortly before his reported death in a New York prison in 2019.
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Juul’s decision was “correct and necessary.” Her contact with the convicted sex offender showed a “serious lapse in judgment,” he said, adding that “the case makes it difficult to restore the trust that the role requires.”
‘This is a full blown crisis in Downing Street… We are not being governed!’
Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch reacts as Keir Starmer’s Director of Communications Tim Allan resigns, and discusses whether an early general election would be in the public interest. pic.twitter.com/thHUvrmT8h
— GB News (@GBNEWS) February 9, 2026
2026 Contract With Our Readers
Epstein cloud over Britain: Starmer government on the rocks; King Charles ‘to support the police’ added by Editor Two on
View all posts by Editor Two →