• With pressure growing on Starmer, McSweeney resigns over hiring of late felon’s friend as US envoy
• Dalai Lama’s office denies his links with Epstein; ex-French minister forced to step down
LONDON / PARIS / NEW DELHI: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney has quit, he said in a statement on Sunday, as pressure intensifies on Starmer over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States.
Starmer is facing what is widely seen as the biggest crisis of his 18 months in power over his decision to send Mandelson to Washington in 2024, after files showed the extent of Mandelson’s relationship to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The departure of McSweeney, 48, a political strategist who was instrumental in Starmer’s rise to power, is yet another blow to the government.
With polls showing Starmer is hugely unpopular with voters, some in his own party are openly questioning his judgement and his future, and it remains to be seen whether McSweeney’s exit will be enough to silence his critics.
“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,” McSweeney said in a statement posted on X by political correspondents.
“When asked, I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.”
Starmer sacked Mandelson last September over his links to Epstein. Mandelson is now under police investigation for alleged misconduct in office.
The UK foreign ministry said on Sunday it was reviewing an exit payment to Mandelson.
Mandelson received an estimated pay-out of between £38,750 and £55,000 ($52,000 and $74,000) after only seven months in the job as British ambassador to the US, according to a report in the Sunday Times.
Dalai Lama denies ties
The office of the Dalai Lama said on Sunday that he had never met Epstein, after Chinese media reported the Tibetan Buddhist leader’s name was mentioned in a cache of files released by the US government.
An AFP search of the files found the Dalai Lama’s name was mentioned more than 150 times with no mention of him meeting or interacting with Epstein.
“Some recent media reports and social media posts concerning the ‘Epstein files’ are attempting to link His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Jeffrey Epstein,” the leader’s office said in a statement posted on X.
“We can unequivocally confirm that His Holiness has never met Jeffrey Epstein or authorised any meeting or interaction with him by anyone on His Holiness’s behalf,” it added.
Forced to step down as IMA chief
Veteran French politician Jack Lang, a former minister, was forced out of a key cultural post — president of the Arab World Institute (IMA) — on Saturday as pressure grew on him over revelations in the latest release of the Epstein files.
He offered to resign in a letter to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who told reporters he planned to launch the process to name an interim president for the IMA.
But Lang continued to insist he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
Lang, who has headed the IMA since 2013, is the most high-profile public figure in France caught up in the latest release of private messages from the convicted sex offender.
“I offer to submit my resignation” at the next board meeting, the 86-year-old wrote in the letter, seen by AFP.
On Friday, French prosecutors said they had opened a preliminary investigation of Lang and his daughter Caroline over “laundering of aggravated tax-fraud proceeds” after they were mentioned in files related to Epstein.
Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2026
