Peter Mandelson sacked as US Ambassador after new Jeffrey Epstein emails uncovered
Lord Mandelson has been withdrawn as the UK’s ambassador to the US after further revelations over his links to disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Keir Starmer asked for him to be removed from the position after it emerged he coached Epstein through “years of torture” over underage sex charges, emailing in 2008: “Your friends stay with you and love you.” According to The Sun, amid a Florida plea bargain, he urged the banker to “fight for early release”.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told MPs: “In light of additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the Prime Minister has asked the Foreign Secretary to withdraw him as ambassador to the United States.
“The emails show that the depth and extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.”
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AP)
Mr Doughty continued: “In particular Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information. In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect.”
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “The Prime Minister now needs to appoint an ambassador who will stand up to Trump, not cosy up to him and his cronies. “He also needs to come before Parliament and explain why Lord Mandelson was appointed in the first place, given everything the Government knew then.”
Despite the growing row over Lord Mandelson’s links with the late financier, the PM had given his full backing to the “Prince of Darkness” at at PMQs on Wednesday. Mr Starmer insisted “due process was followed” during the appointment, as calls grew for Lord Mandelson to go.
Lord Mandelson had earlier faced pressure over his relationship with the disgraced paedophile after a note surfaced of him allegedly describing him as his “best pal”. He said he finds such messages “very embarrassing to see and to read”.
He added that he feels “a tremendous sense, profound sense of sympathy for those people, those women who suffered as a result of his behaviour, and his illegal, criminal activities”.
The Mirror earlier reported that Epstein’s victims have demanded Lord Mandelson, 71, be stripped of his UK ambassadorship after his closeness to the billionaire sex offender was laid bare in explosive new government files.
The former Labour MP is accused of posing in a bathrobe alongside Epstein, as well as calling him his “best pal”, according to documents released by the US House Oversight Committee. The bombshell material includes Epstein’s notorious “birthday book” – a collection of letters, drawings, and candid snaps assembled in 2003 for his 50th birthday by his then-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, now serving time for sex trafficking girls.
Asked how he feels to see his communications with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019, Lord Mandelson said: “I find them very embarrassing to see and to read. But as you said, they were written before he was indicted.
“But I just feel two things now. One, I feel a tremendous sense, profound sense of sympathy for those people, those women who suffered as a result of his behaviour, and his illegal, criminal activities. And secondly, I regret, very, very deeply indeed, carrying all that association with him for far longer than I should have done.”
Lord Mandelson was associated with Epstein for a “matter of years” after initially meeting him. But he insisted he “never, ever saw any evidence or sign for this activity which has since come to light”, adding: “That’s why I feel so profoundly upset by has been now revealed about what he did to women.”
Asked if he would have any problem with the so-called Epstein files being release, Lord Mandelson told The Sun: “I don’t believe I an named in the Epstein files. I have no doubt at all that there’s a lot of tragic correspondences between us… And we know those are going to surface. We know they’re going to come out. We know they’re going to be very embarrassing.”
