Labour veteran Lord Peter Mandelson is going through his greatest controversy to this point over his relationship with paedophile intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
A message from the UK ambassador to Washington featured in a “birthday book” for Epstein for his fiftieth birthday in 2003 – three years earlier than allegations towards the disgraced financier grew to become public.
However who’s Lord Mandelson, what did he put in his message to Epstein, and what has he mentioned about their relationship?
‘The Prince of Darkness’
Lord Mandelson, 71, holds what is taken into account essentially the most glittering diplomatic publish within the UK authorities, the perks of which embody the luxurious ambassador’s residence, a mansion designed by high architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.
Sir Keir Starmer mentioned Lord Mandelson, who served in each Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s governments, introduced “unrivalled experience to the role” and has since credited him with serving to construct UK-US relations in a tough political local weather with Donald Trump on the helm.
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Starmer and Mandelson speak in Washington in February. Pic: AP
Lord Mandelson was already infamous among the many British public, having earned himself a fame for being a spin physician when he helped propel Mr Blair to chief of the Labour Get together in 1994, in what was seen as a betrayal by his shut ally Mr Brown.
He needed to resign from Mr Blair’s cupboard twice, first over an undeclared financial institution mortgage after which over intervening in a passport utility by a high Indian businessman.
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Blair and Mandelson in 2000. Pic: Paul Religion/PA
But it was Mr Brown who gave him a spectacular political comeback, making him enterprise secretary with a peerage in 2008 earlier than making him first secretary of state a yr later – a task he saved till Labour’s election defeat in 2010.
Lord Mandelson, who was additionally Brussels commissioner from 2004 to 2008, is credited by supporters with having high commerce expertise and networking talents, and has even been endorsed by UK Reform chief Nigel Farage, who has referred to as him a “very clever man”.
What was in Mandelson’s birthday message to Epstein?
Information from the 2003 birthday ebook compiled for Epstein by his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell present a birthday word from Lord Mandelson, who refers to Epstein as “my best pal”.
It begins with him showing to reminisce concerning the first time he met Epstein, earlier than alluding to how the financier would typically go away one alone with some “interesting friends to entertain”.
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The messages inside Epstein’s ‘birthday ebook’
It’s not clear what was meant by these so-called “interesting friends”, however the line is accompanied by a picture of two folks with their faces obscured or redacted.
The word references Epstein “taking you by surprise… in one of his glorious homes he likes to share with his friends (yum yum)”.
“Wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal!” Lord Mandelson wrote.
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An image of Epstein and Mandelson within the ‘birthday ebook’. Pic: US Home Oversight Committee
Photos of Lord Mandelson seem on the pages, which embody a picture of a tropical island.
Lord Mandelson was certainly one of many contributors to the ebook, which was made public for the primary time on 9 September after being printed by a congressional committee in Washington.
How has Mandelson responded?
Reacting after the ebook’s launch, Lord Mandelson instructed The Solar: “I find them very embarrassing to see and to read, but they were written before he was indicted.”
He mentioned he sympathised with Epstein’s victims and that he “very, very deeply” regretted persevering with to affiliate with the paedophile for “far longer than I should have done”.
Lord Mandelson mentioned he “fell for and accepted assurances” from Epstein, who he described as a “charismatic criminal liar”.
He mentioned he by no means noticed any “wrongdoing” or felony exercise whereas he related to Epstein.
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Lord Mandelson ‘regrets’ Epstein hyperlink
Report claims Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s flat whereas he was jailed
Lord Mandelson’s hyperlinks to Epstein have been first scrutinised in a report by JP Morgan financial institution, filed in a New York courtroom in 2019.
Epstein, who killed himself whereas awaiting trial on expenses of intercourse trafficking minors in August 2019, had beforehand served an 18-month sentence after pleading responsible to procuring an individual below the age of 18 for prostitution.
The report urged that Lord Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan flat whereas he was serving that sentence, noting that Epstein wrote to his personal banker on 17 June 2009: “Peter will be staying at 71st over weekend…”
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From Might: Mandelson – ‘I want I by no means met Epstein’
Requested why he had an affiliation with Epstein while he was in jail, Lord Mandelson replied: “Why did many people meet him? He was a prolific networker. And I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”
