The fallout from the release of new Jeffrey Epstein-related files widened on Monday, triggering resignations and investigations across Europe, a day after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney stepped down.
In the UK, Downing Street director of communications Tim Allan resigned, saying he wanted to allow a new team to be put in place. “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the Prime Minister and his team every success,” Allan said in a statement.
Allan previously served as an adviser to former prime minister Tony Blair between 1992 and 1998 and went on to found one of Britain’s leading public affairs consultancies in 2001. He was appointed executive director of communications at Downing Street in September 2025.
According to Reuters, the back-to-back departures of Allan and McSweeney have dealt a fresh blow to Starmer as he attempts to contain a crisis sparked by his appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States.
Norwegian envoy steps down
The controversy has also spread to Norway, where the foreign ministry announced that ambassador Mona Juul would resign over what it described as a “serious failure of judgment” related to her past contacts with Epstein.
Juul had earlier been suspended from her role as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq pending an internal inquiry after Epstein-linked references surfaced in files released by the US government. She has previously served as Norway’s ambassador to Israel, the UK, and the United Nations.
“Juul’s contact with convicted sex offender Epstein has shown a serious failure of judgment. The case makes it difficult to rebuild the trust that the role requires,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement.
Reuters quoted Juul’s lawyer, Thomas Skjelbred, as saying that she would continue to cooperate fully with the foreign ministry to ensure all relevant facts emerge. The ministry also said it has launched a review of former grants awarded to the International Peace Institute (IPI), a New York-based think tank headed by Juul’s husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, until 2020.
Epstein files widen scrutiny
Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. The latest tranche of documents has renewed scrutiny of several prominent figures in Europe and beyond. Among those named is Britain’s Prince Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III, who was stripped of his royal titles in October last year.
The files have also revealed correspondence involving Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. According to Reuters, her name appears hundreds of times in the documents, including messages in which she referred to Epstein in personal terms several years after his conviction.
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