Peter Mandelson really helpful vacation house to Jeffrey Epstein with ‘privateness’ for his ‘visitors’ – as police comb by means of information of Labour ex-peer

Peter Mandelson appears to have recommended a 16-room luxury holiday home to Jeffrey Epstein where he could hosts his ‘guests’ in private after he was freed from house arrest. 

In an email released by the US Department of Justice in the latest tranche of Epstein files, the ex-Labour peer is believed to have said he had found a villa in Italy the paedophile could use. 

He added that the place on the Amalfi coast would offer Epstein ‘privacy with accompanying rooms for your “guests”.’ 

Quote marks are placed around the word guests and it is not clear who he is referring to. 

The revelations come as police swooped on Mandelson’s two homes yesterday as part of an investigation into alleged misconduct in a public office.

Officers are probing accusations he sent market-sensitive information to the paedophile financier while he was business secretary during the financial crisis.

The email chain about the hotel dates from August 2010, the month after Epstein completed his 2008 sentence for soliciting a child for prostitution. 

In one message, the person believed to be Mandelson tells Epstein he is due to arrive back in London from ‘Myk’, which is shorthand for the Greek island of Mykonos. 

He continues: ‘Found you a great place to stay on the Amalfi coast near to Positano. Zeferelli home converted into beautiful suites and privacy with accompanying rooms for your “guests”.’

The sender’s email address has been redacted but BBC News and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism have identified it as originating from Mandelson.

The black redaction box leaves some parts of his email address visible and the reference to ‘Myk’ has been used by Mandelson in separate messages. 

The emails have also been sent from a Blackberry, which was the ex-Labour grandee’s preferred device at the time. 

A spokesperson for Mandelson said he ‘did not discover the truth about Epstein until after his death in 2019’, adding that he has no recollection of sending the message. 

It is understood that the holiday home the sender is referring to is Villa Treville, which is located on a clifftop overlooking the Gulf of Salerno.

There is no evidence that Epstein ever visited the 16-suite hotel. 

A spokesperson for the Mandelson said: ‘Lord Mandelson regrets, and will regret until to his dying day, that he believed Epstein’s lies about his criminality.

‘Lord Mandelson did not discover the truth about Epstein until after his death in 2019.

‘He is profoundly sorry that powerless and vulnerable women and girls were not given the protection they deserved.’

It comes as police are today sifting through boxes of evidence removed from Mandelson’s addresses in both London and Wiltshire. 

The ex-Labour grandee was not arrested but he may face questions from Metropolitan Police detectives in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, senior Government figures are preparing to hand over messages linked to his appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the US last year.

Sir Keir Starmer warned on Friday evening a ‘very significant volume of material’ would likely need reviewing as part of the process, which is being overseen by Parliament’s security watchdog following a Government climbdown.

Following a Commons motion, Downing Street agreed to the disclosure of a broader remit of documents, including messages between ministers and senior officials that have the potential to prove embarrassing for the Government.

Control over which files can be released into the public domain has been ceded to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) after a Labour backlash to No 10’s initial attempt to add possible exemptions to protect international relations.

The number of emails, messages and documents potentially within scope runs into the high tens of thousands, it is understood, and publication could take some time as the ISC must still assess any items the Government wants withheld for national security reasons.

Sir Keir believes the files will prove Lord Mandelson lied during his vetting but Scotland Yard has also asked for some documents to be withheld, saying it could jeopardise the criminal probe.

In a letter to ISC chairman Lord Beamish on Friday, the Prime Minister insisted the Government wanted to ‘engage constructively with the ISC, and to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency it deserves.’

Meanwhile, pressure from within Labour ranks continued to mount on Sir Keir to sack his most senior adviser, Morgan McSweeney, who many Labour MPs blame for the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson.

A handful of Labour MPs have publicly suggested the Prime Minister should also consider his position, but others have expressed reservations about the prospect of upheaval without an obvious challenger.

Reports have suggested that his former deputy Angela Rayner, who left Government last year after a row over her underpayment of stamp duty on a new property, is poised for a potential leadership campaign.

The Times reported that Ms Rayner had told friends she warned Sir Keir not to appoint Mandelson as ambassador because of his links to Epstein, though she is said to not want to be the one who launches a challenge against the Prime Minister.

A spokesperson for Ms Rayner said on Thursday they did not recognise claims that she had told friends she was ready for a contest.

In a speech on Thursday, the Prime Minister accused the peer of lying about his relationship with Epstein during his vetting for the UK’s most prestigious diplomatic posting abroad.

He said ‘none of us knew the depth of the darkness’ of the association between the two men when the peer was appointed and apologised to Epstein’s victims for believing Mandelson’s ‘lies’.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman has said Sir Keir retains ‘full confidence’ in Mr McSweeney.

Mandelson has yet to speak publicly, but the BBC has said it understood he maintains he did not act criminally and that his actions were not for personal gain.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Gordon Brown has said he ‘greatly regrets’ making Lord Mandelson a peer and appointing him to a ministerial role in 2008.

Writing in The Guardian, Mr Brown said: ‘I have to take personal responsibility for appointing Mandelson to his ministerial role in 2008. I greatly regret this appointment.

‘I did so in spite of him being anything but a friend to me, because I thought that his unquestioned knowledge of Europe and beyond could help us as we dealt with the global financial crisis.

‘I now know that I was wrong. He seems to have used market-sensitive inside information to betray the principles in which he said he believed, and he betrayed the people who believed in them – and him.’

Mr Brown also called for the UK to adopt US-style confirmation hearings for new government ministers, ‘to ensure the right questions are asked and answered in public about present and past interests and conduct’.