The US ambassador and prominent Labour politician has come under pressure, with Labour allies dropping like flies throughout the week.
Earlier this week, it was also revealed that Mandelson had described Epstein as his “best pal” in a series of messages shared as part of a 50th “birthday book” released by US lawmakers.
Mandelson has expressed regret over his support of Epstein in the face of charges for soliciting sex from underage girls, calling the financier a “charismatic criminal liar”.
He told the Sun in an interview that he continued their friendship “far longer than I should have”.
“I feel a tremendous sense of sympathy for those people, those women, who suffered as a result of his behaviour and his illegal criminal activities,” he said.
What was in Mandelson’s emails?
In the emails, Mandelson encouraged Epstein to “fight for early release” and assured him that “your friends stay with you and love you”.
“I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened,” the ambassador wrote. “I can still barely understand it. It just could not happen in Britain.”
In a statement shared with the BBC after the emails were published, Mandelson maintained that he “relied on assurances of his innocence that turned out later to be horrendously false. His lawyers claimed that it was a shakedown of him, a criminal conspiracy. I foolishly relied on their word, which I regret to this day.”
Mandelson also highlighted that he never witnessed any of Epstein’s convicted wrongdoings and that he “never sought, nor did [Epstein] offer” any introductions to women in the same way he has been proven to have done for others, speculating that “perhaps it’s because I’m a gay man”.
Reactions to Mandelson’s emails
Labour MP Andy McDonald told the BBC that there is “widespread revulsion” in the Labour party over Mandelson’s links to Epstein.
Home Office Minister Mike Tapp also said that he was personally disturbed by the emails Mandelson sent Epstein, saying that they left “a bad taste in the mouth”.
He went on to maintain that it was “important that we get to the bottom of this and do have all the answers”.
“What we’re seeing from Keir Starmer and from Lord Mandelson is everything is out now … as far as I know,” Tapp added. “Keir Starmer has been clear yesterday in the House that all of the answers are there.”
