The fallout from the latest release of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is being called the biggest political scandal so far this century. Newspapers and television news are splashing fresh revelations daily. High-profile careers are crashing. The police are investigating. There are even whispers of “borrowed time” for the country’s leader.

Not in the United States, but in Britain.

The enormous tranche of more than 3 million emails and other documents, photos and videos released by the Justice Department on Jan. 30 have created a minor headache in the White House and a major crisis in Whitehall. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under immense pressure to explain why he appointed longtime Labour insider Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., despite knowing Mandelson continued to consort with Epstein after he pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to charges including soliciting prostitution from someone under 18.

Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigned on Sunday, taking “full responsibility” for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson. It was only a few days ago that the prime minister said he still had confidence in McSweeney, who is often credited as the brains behind Labour’s landslide victory in 2024. Now Starmer is without his most senior and “essential” political adviser, amid the most politically dangerous crisis the government has faced so far.

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On Thursday, Starmer made a public........

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