Lord Peter Mandelson has refused to apologise for his personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The former UK ambassador to the US, who was sacked last September over emails which showed the extent of his support for the convicted paedophile following his conviction, told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he had paid a “calamitous” price for their association.
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Lord Mandelson told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg said: “I never saw anything in his life when I was with him, when I was in his homes, that would give me any reason to suspect what this evil monster was doing in preying on these young women.
“I think the issue is that because I was a gay man in his circle, I was kept separate from what he was doing in the sexual side of his life.”
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Asked whether he wanted to apologise to Epstein’s victims, Lord Mandelson said he wanted to apologise for a “system that refused to hear their voices and did not give them the protection they were entitled to expect”.
But pressed on whether he would apologise for his personal actions, Lord Mandelson said: “If I had known, if I was in any way complicit or culpable, of course I would apologise… but I was not culpable, I was not knowledgeable for what he was doing, and I regret, and will regret to my dying day, the fact that powerless women were not given the protection they were entitled to expect.”
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor but Lord Mandelson said he believed his excuses and continued to support him.
Emails showed the former Labour MP 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.
Asked if he believed he deserved to be sacked by Sir Keir Starmer, he replied: “I understand why I was sacked.
“I understand why he took the decision he did. But one thing I’m very clear about is I’m not going to seek to reopen or relitigate this issue. I’m moving on.”
Lord Mandelson also sought to distance himself from Epstein, arguing he was “at the edge of this man’s life” – despite a handwritten note coming to light from Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003 book where he described him as his “best pal”.
Asked why he had stuck with Epstein, Lord Mandelson said: “It was a most terrible mistake on my part. I believed the story he told in 2008 in his first indictment in Florida, I accepted his story, and I wish I hadn’t.
“I gave my support to somebody because I believed what he was telling me, and it was misplaced loyalty, but I just have to say this to you: while it’s had the most calamitous consequences for me, the crux of this is not me. The crux of this is not the friendship I had 25 years ago with Jeffrey Epstein.
“The crux of this is that so many hundreds of young women were completely trapped, powerless in a system that did not listen to what they had to say.”
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Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the programme: “I think what we saw there in that interview was, at best, deep naivety from Peter Mandelson.
“And I think it would have gone a long way for the women who were subjected to the most appalling treatment at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein for Peter to have apologised and taken that opportunity.”
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
