Mandelson apologises for continuing Epstein friendship

Lord Mandelson has personally apologized to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims for his friendship with the convicted pedophile.

The former cabinet minister’s intervention comes after he faced criticism over the weekend for limiting his apology to apologizing for system failures that have failed women.

Lord Mandelson went further when he told BBC Newsnight on Monday evening. He said: “I didn’t want to be held responsible for that yesterday. [Jeffrey Epstein’s] Crimes of which I was neither ignorant nor indifferent, because of the lies he told me and many others.

“I made a mistake in believing him after his conviction and continuing my relationship with him afterwards. I publicly apologize for doing so to the women and girls who suffered.”

The British government dismissed Lord Mandelson as US ambassador last September. Downing Street said “new information” had emerged about the former ambassador’s friendship with Epstein.

Emails revealed Lord Mandelson contacted Epstein after the American financier’s first conviction in 2008 and advised him to clear his name in a series of supportive messages.

Epstein’s first conviction was part of a plea bargain that Epstein made in Florida. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting two charges, including encouraging 14-year-old girls into prostitution.

Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

In BBC One’s first interview with Laura Kuenssberg since his sacking as ambassador on Sunday, Lord Mandelson did not apologize for maintaining his friendship with Epstein, insisting he would have done so if he had been “in any way complicit or guilty”.

During the interview, Mandelson said he believed he was “segregated” from Epstein’s sex life because he was gay and that he refused to meet young girls at Epstein’s properties.

A cabinet minister told BBC Newsnight that Mandelson was now “persona non grata”. Another minister described his interview as “dreadful and toe-curling”.

Lord Mandelson issued a personal apology following the backlash to his interview with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday.

Lord Mandelson told BBC Newsnight: “I was never guilty or complicit in his crimes. Like everyone else, I learned the real truth about him after his death.”

“But his victims knew what he was doing, their voices were not being heard, and I regret that I was among those who believed him instead.”

Labour’s Baroness Kennedy told Newsnight on Monday it was “shocking” that Lord Mandelson had not initially apologized.

He said: “I think it was shocking to a lot of people that he didn’t do it.

“I’m glad he came out tonight and said that his main preoccupation, at least right now, is to make people understand that he doesn’t know and that he’s been persuaded.”

He added: “Someone like Peter Mandelson should have known better than to go on television and apologize to women who have suffered so much.”