MUGO ODIGWE:
00:00:00
And British Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired his ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson. As CBS News Foreign Correspondent Ramy Inocencio reports, the UK government's leader said he based his decision on new information that digs deeper into Mandelson's years-long friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Yes, and his firing follows revelations that, according to the British government, his relationship with the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was materially different than was originally known at the time of his appointment as ambassador to the US just last year. Now, the catalyst for this was the disclosure of more than 100 emails written by Mandelson to Epstein, and in particular, his suggestion that Epstein's first conviction was wrong, and that he should challenge it. Now, as a reminder, that was in 2008, and Epstein pled guilty to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution. Now, anecdotally, he is known by many as the Lord of Darkness, by his critics in particular, and he has many of them. He's been embroiled in previous scandals, affairs, and past resignations from the government over nearly the past 30 years. Now, here in London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is coming under fire for appointing Mandelson in the first place. Now, Starmer just yesterday said that he had confidence in him, and that due process was followed, but pressure is building on the premier to now release documents about his vetting process. And politically, this is another hit to the prime minister. His deputy resigned last week over a tax error. Britain's economy, we know, is not doing well. Starmer's popularity in many polls is at or near an all-time low. Back to you.
MUGO ODIGWE:
00:01:53
Thanks, Ramy.
