Starmer let Mandelson quit Labour last night rather than go through the awkward business of expelling him, following yet more revelations about the Dark Lord’s enduring friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Guido thought it useful to remind co-conspirators of just how many versions of events Mandelson has offered over the years:
- June 2023: After it was revealed Mandelson was due to stay at Epstein’s New York townhouse while the paedophile was in jail for underage sex crimes, Mandelson’s spokesman said: “Lord Mandelson very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein. This connection has been a matter of public record for some time. He never had any kind of professional or business relationship with Epstein in any form.”
- February 2025: Told a Financial Times journalist to “f**k off” when asked about his relationship with Epstein, claiming it was an “FT obsession”.
- May 2025: Sky News asked Lord Mandelson if he did stay at Epstein’s flat, to which he replied: “I’m not answering any questions about him. My knowledge of him is something I regret, I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”
- September 2025: Told the Sun: “I regret very very deeply indeed, carrying on that association with him… years after I initially met him… I regret very much that I fell for his lies.”
- 12 January 2026: In an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Mandelson declined to apologise directly to Epstein’s victims, saying he was not “knowledgeable of what he was doing”. He claimed he did not see girls at Epstein’s properties. Referencing one occasion he visited Epstein Island he said:
“The only people that were there were the housekeepers, never were there any young women or girls, or people that he was preying on or engaging with in that sort of ghastly predatory way that we subsequently found out he was doing. Epstein was never there.”
He added “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.”
- 13 January 2026: He then apologised to the victims, saying: “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.”
- 1 February 2026: Mandelson claimed he had “no recollection” of receiving money from Epstein. Documents released over the weekend show bank statements across 2003 and 2004 appear to show $75,000 (£54,500) was transferred to Mandelson from Epstein. He said: “I have no record and no recollection of receiving these sums and do not know if the documents are authentic.”
- 1 February 2026: On documents appearing to show Madelson emailed Epstein in 2009 to say he was “trying hard” to change policy on bankers’ bonuses after Gordon Brown’s government clamped down on them, Mandelson said: “My conversations in government at the time reflected the views of the sector as a whole not a single individual.”
Mandelson may have resigned the Labour whip, but he remains a peer. Asked whether he will be removed from the Roll of the Peerage, Labour ministers have so far stonewalled – offering only that he is “currently on a leave of absence from the House of Lords” since he was appointed as US ambassador. The government would have to propose and pass a specific piece of legislation to remove his peerage. How long will Starmer let him cling on to his peerage is the next question…
