LONDON -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday fired the U.K’s ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, over his links to the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement in the House of Commons on Thursday, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said the decision came after the publication this week of emails Mandelson sent to Epstein.

“In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

“The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment," it added.