India, April 18 -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing heightened scrutiny and renewed calls for resignation amid a widening scandal over the failed security vetting of the former UK ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, before he assumed the premiership. 

Starmer's appointment of the Labour veteran with ties to the disgraced late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has ignited a firestorm, exposing a catastrophic breakdown in the heart of British politics.

The scandal has left Starmer's political foes questioning how the British prime minister had been unaware of the failed vetting status of his envoy before the appointment. Lawmakers, many among Starmer's own Labour Party, are urging him to stand down as he's being a...