STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The Epstein files have tarnished a lot of Americans in politics and business, and they are also reverberating across the Atlantic.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is not implicated in the Epstein files, but he appointed someone who is and is having to defend himself.
INSKEEP: NPR's Lauren Frayer is following this from London. Hi, Lauren.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.
INSKEEP: Why is Starmer apparently facing some calls to resign?
FRAYER: Over the man he appointed to be his ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson. So Mandelson resigned last year after an earlier batch of the Epstein files revealed he had kept up communication friendship with the late sex offender after Epstein's conviction. Now, the latest batch show he allegedly passed sensitive U.K. government information to Epstein. Mandelson denies wrongdoing, but police are investigating, and all of this has led to questions about Starmer's judgment in appointing him in the first place.
INSKEEP: How does Starmer defend himself?
FRAYER: He admits he knew Mandelson was friends with Epstein, but says Mandelson lied to him about the extent of it.
INSKEEP: OK. So let's just remember there was a period recently in British history where they had a new prime minister every seven or eight minutes, it seemed. So is there a good chance that Starmer might really resign?
FRAYER: It looks less likely today than it did yesterday. Yesterday, when two of his top staffers - Starmer's top staffers - abruptly quit, then a close ally of Starmer, the head of his Labour Party in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, called a news conference to say this.
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ANAS SARWAR: The distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.
FRAYER: Downing Street, of course, the UK equivalent of the White House. In a parliamentary system, the ruling party can replace the prime minister, and that's what Sarwar is calling for to happen here. But rather than trigger a sort of cascade of more resignation calls, Sarwar was kind of left hanging alone because Starmer's Cabinet rallied around him. And every single member of his Cabinet and also some backbenchers - members of his party who aren't in the government - have issued statements in support of Starmer to stay in office. So Starmer looks like he's living to fight another day. I just want to say, this is not an impeachment in the U.S. These are the normal machinations of a parliamentary system. You know, two long-serving British prime ministers - Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair - were both ousted by their own parties in this way and not in elections.
INSKEEP: Yeah. The party can fire their leaders, so to speak.
FRAYER: That's right.
INSKEEP: Where do the royals fit into all of this, given that the king's own brother is in the files?
FRAYER: Yeah. Former Prince Andrew - we don't call him that anymore. He's stripped of that title - he settled a lawsuit with one of Epstein's underage victims a few years ago. He denies wrongdoing. But police are now looking into whether Andrew also leaked sensitive U.K. government information to Epstein when Andrew was a U.K. trade envoy. Andrew's not commented on those allegations. But the king - his brother - has been getting heckled over this, and here's what it sounded like yesterday.
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UNIDENTIFIED HECKLER: Charles, how long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?
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FRAYER: And you hear people sort of saying, oh, get out of here, you know, and cheering for the king. There was a mixed crowd there. But last night, the king issued a statement saying he is willing to cooperate with police if asked about his brother. He's already stripped his brother of his royal titles. He's booted his brother out of a royal cottage on Windsor Castle grounds. So all of this is raising really big questions about the future of the monarchy. The heir to the throne, Prince William and his wife, Kate, issued their first statement on the Epstein files this week, saying they are deeply concerned.
INSKEEP: Amazing to think about the potential image of the police dropping by to question the king. Lauren, thanks so much.
FRAYER: You're welcome.
INSKEEP: That's NPR's Lauren Frayer.
(SOUNDBITE OF VALIUM AGGELEIN'S "BIRD WINGS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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