LONDON, April 19 -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing renewed calls to resign over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US after the government said he failed security ‌vetting and was still allowed to take up the job. Mandelson, 72, was fired from the most prestigious posting in Britain's diplomatic service in September, when the depth of his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein started to become clear. The new information that Mandelson initially failed the vetting, but was still given the role, increases the political ‌pressure on Starmer, whose defence rests on the assertion that he was not told about the vetting failure until this week.

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