Tony Blair met with Jeffrey Epstein while prime minister

The BBC has confirmed that Sir Tony Blair met Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street while he was prime minister, following lobbying by Lord Peter Mandelson.

A memo dated 14 May 2002, written by senior civil servant Matthew Rycroft, gives Sir Tony information about “super-rich” financial adviser Epstein ahead of a meeting scheduled for 17:00 GMT that day.

The meeting came six years before Epstein pleaded guilty in June 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

A spokesman for Sir Tony said: “As far as he can remember, Mr Blair met him in Downing Street for less than 30 minutes in 2002 and discussed US and UK policies. He never met or interacted with him afterwards.”

He added: “Of course, this was long before his crimes were discovered and subsequently convicted.”

Emails seen by the BBC show Lord Mandelson pressing for the meeting and telling Sir Tony’s private secretary Jonathan Powell that Epstein was “a friend of mine” who former US President Bill Clinton was hoping to introduce to the Prime Minister.

The publication of this and various related documents had previously been blocked by government officials due to concerns about its impact on UK-US relations.

The document was released by the National Archives under a Freedom of Information request. Lord Mandelson’s dismissal as US ambassador following new revelations about his friendship with the disgraced financier.

In his email to Powell, the current UK government’s National Security Adviser, Lord Mandelson refers to Epstein as “safe”.

The May 7, 2002 email states: “Remember when Clinton saw TB? [Tony Blair] Did he say he wanted to introduce his traveling companion, Jeffrey Epstein, to tuberculosis?

“TB found this disappointing at the time – TB is in office for reasons (he says) that are unclear to him. I think TB would be interested in meeting Jeffrey, who is also my friend, as Jeffrey is an active scientific catalyst/entrepreneur as well as someone who has his finger on the pulse of many markets and currencies around the world.”

“He’s young and energetic. He’s safe (whatever that means) and Clinton is doing a lot of traveling with him right now.”

The email continues: “I told TB that Jeffrey would be in London next week and he said he wanted to meet him.

“I’ve learned from Jeffrey that he’s flexible – he can be here at any time to accommodate the diary starting on Tuesday – but he needs to be informed fairly quickly to reschedule accordingly. Can you let me know?”

The printout of the email includes three separate handwritten notes, some of which are illegible, but one of which reads: “Do you want to do this… Because you wanted to see Clinton for yourself… I know very little about her.”

At the time, Lord Mandelson was a backbencher who had resigned from the cabinet twice but was still a force in the Labor Party.

Bill Clinton acknowledged being a former associate of Epstein but said he had no knowledge of his crimes.

Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a person under the age of 18. He died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

The National Archives also published a program titled Trade and Industry Meetings with Industry, which included a memo published on 14 May 2002. A note to Sir Tony informing him about Epstein ahead of the meeting schedule at 17:00 GMT that day.

The briefing, written by senior officer Matthew Rycroft, was marked R, understood to stand for restricted.

Rycroft, who served as permanent secretary at the Ministry of Internal Affairs until March 2025, wrote the following to Blair in his note: “Jeffrey Epstein will meet you today at 17.00.

“He is a financial advisor and real estate developer to the super-rich. He is a friend of Bill Clinton and Peter Mandelson.”

“Epstein’s background is that he was very wealthy and close to the Duke of York,” says Rycroft.

He adds: “Peter says Epstein is now traveling with Clinton and Clinton wants you to meet him.

“He thinks you would find it a worthwhile conversation to have with him about a) science and b) international economic and monetary trends.”

The note was also sent to Powell and Geoffrey Norris, one of Sir Tony’s personal advisers.