British PM Keir Starmer vows to never walk away from his job

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed he would "never walk away" from the job.

This, as revelations about the relationship between former UK ambassador to Washington Peter Mandleson and Jeffrey Epstein spiral into a full-blown crisis for Starmer's 19-month-old government.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared defiant amid the mounting pressure as he visited a community centre in Southern England.

He said, "There are some people in recent days who say the Labour government should have a different fight, a fight with itself, instead of a fight for the millions of people who need us to fight for them. And I say to them, I will never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country. I will not walk away from the people that I am charged with fighting for. And I will never walk away from the country that I love."

Some lawmakers in Starmer's centre-left Labour party have called on him to resign for his judgment in appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington in 2024, despite his ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer brushed off internal party dissent and said the "real fight is not in the Labour Party" and was with right-wing politics.

Police are investigating Mandelson for potential misconduct in public office over documents suggesting he passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago.

Mandelson has not been arrested or charged, and he does not face any allegations of sexual misconduct. Starmer, however, could still face fallout from the ongoing controversy.

AP journalist Jill Lawless said: "So Keir Starmer remains in office. He's still prime minister, and he seems to be safe from challenge for now, but there are serious pitfalls ahead. At the end of February, there's a special election for a seat in parliament in what should be a safe Labour seat, but which the party might well lose either to the Reform Party on the right or to the Green Party on the left."

"That could trigger another round of Labour soul searching and a potential leadership challenge. If he gets through that, there are elections in May to the Scottish and Welsh legislatures and for local council seats in England, and Labour is expected to do quite badly in those midterm elections and that may be the moment when challengers for his job, who are holding fire for now, they're not ready to launch campaigns, they may try to make their move.