Minister refuses to say if Peter Mandelson should be kicked out of Labour over Epstein scandal
A government minister has refused to rule out Peter Mandelson bringing back the Labor whip after new allegations emerged of his links to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Part of newly released documents from the so-called Epstein files allege the convicted sex offender sent £10,000 to Lord Mandelson’s husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
According to the email exchange released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Mr. da Silva asked Epstein for money to fund an osteopathy course and other related expenses in September 2009.
Housing, communities and local government minister Steve Reed said the party “needs to fully understand what happened” before taking action.
Asked whether Mr Mandelson should be reinstated and possibly demoted from the Labor Party, Mr Reed told Sky News: “I think before we take such action we need to understand exactly what has happened.
“You’re here asking me about something that happened about 20 years ago. I don’t know all the details of it. I wasn’t in government 20 years ago.”
He added: “I think it will be for Peter Mandelson to explain whether this money was declared correctly and if it wasn’t then he will have to answer for it.
“But I don’t want to rush in and make assumptions. I think we need to find out exactly what happened.”
Labor has been under pressure not to allow Mr Mandelson to be whipped by the party if he returns to the House of Lords, where he has been on leave since taking up his post as US ambassador.
If the party withdraws, it will have to operate as an independent without Labor support.
The presence of his name or picture in the Epstein files does not imply any crime or wrongdoing.
Trevor Phillips said he declined Mr. Mandelson’s invitation to appear on Sunday’s show but acknowledged that his husband had received a $10,000 loan from Epstein.
But Mr. Mandelson said neither he nor his husband had any record or recollection of receiving payments in 2003 or 2004, or “they don’t know whether the documents are authentic.”
On Friday, Lord Mandelson, who married Mr. da Silva in 2023 after a relationship dating back three decades, issued a statement apologizing to Epstein’s victims. She insisted that she was unaware of Epstein’s crimes and that she “learned the true truth about him after his death.”
Last year, Britain’s ambassador to the US was fired from his post in September following mounting pressure over his ties to Epstein, who was jailed for 18 months from 2008 to July 2009 after pleading guilty to charges of promoting prostitution.
“It was a mistake to believe Epstein after his conviction and to continue my relationship with him thereafter,” Lord Mandelson said in a statement on Friday. “I publicly apologize for doing this to the women and girls who suffered.”
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