LONDON, U.K.: On April 17, Opposition politicians renewed their demands for the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, to resign after it was revealed that his former ambassador to the United States failed security vetting and was still allowed to take up the post.

A day earlier, the government said that Peter Mandelson had failed a security check before starting the job. He was later fired after Keir Starmer said Mandelson had lied about how close he was to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The government said Starmer did not know that Foreign Office officials had ignored the failed vetting and allowed Mandelson to take the role. A source also said the top official at the foreign office, Olly Robbins, would step down after losing Starmer's trust.

Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, told BBC Radio that the prime minister could not avoid responsibility by removing Robbins, and that the responsibility should lie with Starmer. He added that the evidence suggested Starmer had misled parliament and the public, which goes against the rules, and that is why they were calling for him to resign.

Starmer had earlier apologized for appointing Mandelson but defended himself. He accused Mandelson of repeatedly lying about his links to Epstein and said he would release documents explaining how the appointment was made.

Senior minister Darren Jones told LBC that Starmer was very angry that he had not been informed about Mandelson failing the security check, and that he would update parliament on April 20. He said Starmer had not misled parliament, although the process followed had problems.

Jones also said he did not believe this issue would affect the prime minister's future.

Mandelson is now being investigated by police over claims that he leaked government documents to Epstein. He has not publicly responded to these claims, and his lawyer has not commented on the vetting issue.