Britain’s new ambassador to Washington privately trashed the idea of a “special relationship” between the U.K. and U.S. as “backwards-looking” and claimed the U.S. now reserves that designation for Israel in newly leaked audio.

The Financial Times first reported on Ambassador Christian Turner’s comments, which were made in February to a group of high school students visiting the U.S. The leaked audio was made public Tuesday, the same day King Charles III began his multi-day visit to Washington, which Turner is present for.

Turner can reportedly be heard candidly telling the students he “dislikes the phrase ‘special relationship,’” describing it as “quite nostalgic.”

“it’s quite backwards-looking, and it has a lot of baggage about it,” he said.

He added that there is “probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States and that is probably Israel,” suggesting Britain’s ties with Washington are “going to have to be different.”

The diplomat also drew attention to the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein files, calling it “extraordinary” that it had “brought down a senior member of the royal family, a British ambassador to Washington, potentially the prime minister, and yet here in the U.S., it really hasn’t touched anybody.”

He questioned accountability in the U.S., asking: “How many Americans have been called to testify before Congress?”

Turner’s predecessor Peter Mandelson was fired by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last year over his past correspondence with Epstein, revealed in early document releases by the Justice Department. Scandal over Mandelson’s appointment has threatened  Starmer’s premiership in recent weeks after revelations the former ambassador failed vetting but was put in the role anyway.

In other remarks, according to The Financial Times, Turner characterized the controversy surrounding Mandelson as a “crisis” that “has nearly brought down the government and ended the prime minister’s tenure.”

He told the students Starmer was “pretty clearly on the ropes” and his future “quite touch and go.” He predicted that if May elections in the U.S. go badly Starmer’s party will “remove him.”

Responding to the leaks, a spokesperson for the U.K.’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the ambassador’s comments “are certainly not any reflection of the U.K. government’s position.”

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