By Sammy Jones-
Lord Peter Mandelson has made what he described as an ”unequivocal” apology to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for remaining friends with the paedophile financier after his conviction.
In 2019, Epstein died in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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The late billionaire whose nae was irreparably tarnished before his death, pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitating prostitution and soliciting a minor, but Lord Mandelson said he believed his excuses and continued to support him.
Disclosed emails revealed Lord Mandelson had been in contact with Epstein after the American financier’s first conviction in 2008, where he advised Epstein to clear his name in a string of supportive messages. Epstein’s first conviction was part of a plea bargain he reached in Florida before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges, including soliciting girls as young as 14 for prostitution.
In his first interview since his dismissal as ambassador on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Lord Mandelson did not apologise for maintaining his friendship with Epstein, insisting that he would have done so if he were “in any way complicit or culpable”.
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During the interview, Mandelson also said he believed he was “kept separate” from Epstein’s sex life because he is gay and denied seeing young girls at Epstein’s properties.
But in his statement to BBC Newsnight, Lord Mandelson said: “I was never culpable or complicit in his crimes. Like everyone else I learned the actual truth about him after his death.
“But his victims did know what he was doing, their voices were not heard and I am sorry I was amongst those who believed him over them.”
Lord Mandelson told the programme: “Yesterday, I did not want to be held responsible for his (Epstein’s) crimes of which I was ignorant, not indifferent, because of the lies he told me and so many others.
“I was wrong to believe him following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered.”
In the interview aired on Sunday, Lord Mandelson had said it was “misplaced loyalty” and “a most terrible mistake on my part”.
He sought to distance himself from Epstein, saying “I was at the edge of this man’s life”, but emails have revealed the extent of their friendship even after the conviction.
Emails showed Lord Mandelson told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
He is also reported to have told Epstein “I think the world of you” the day before the disgraced financier began his jail sentence.
Lord Mandelson suggested Epstein excluded him from the “sexual side” of his life because he was gay.
Asked by Laura Kuenssberg whether he wanted to apologise, Lord Mandelson said: “I want to apologise to those women for a system that refused to hear their voices and did not give them the protection they were entitled to expect.”
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