Mandelson eyes ‘outsider’ role after quitting Labour over Epstein fallout
Lord Peter Mandelson had declared a “sea change” in his career after resigning from the Labour Party following the latest batch of Epstein files released last week.
Speaking to The Times, Mandelson, freshly departed from Labour after 40 years at the top, said he now wants to “contribute ideas that enable Britain to strengthen and to work for all, in every part of the country.”
He has dominated the headlines this week following a massive release of three million documents by US officials last Friday, which included details on his extensive relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
One of these documents included correspondence between him and Epstein about Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan, who Mandelson said should “mildly threaten” the UK Treasury over a tax on bank bonuses.
Other messages, including confidential Downing Street emails, are now the centre of a Whitehall-led investigation. He has also been reported to the police.
‘I’ve had a lot of bad luck’
Dubbed the ‘comeback King’, Mandelson said, “I’ve had a lot of bad luck, no doubt some of it of my own making”. However, he added that “Hiding under a rock would be a disproportionate response to a handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending”.
He went on to credit Epstein for providing the “guidance” to navigate his transition from politics to high finance. “Perhaps he wanted to be a mentor and I was naive in regarding him as a good-faith actor. There was no reason to shun his advice, but I was too trusting,” he stated.
Mandelson, who spoke to the Times after resigning from Labour but before the most recent revelations, said Epstein “was always very free and forthright with his views and always presented them as in my best interests.”
Before Epstein’s arrest in 2019, he had previously pleaded guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008 and served a year in prison.
Calls to remove him from the Lords
In 2008, as part of Gordon Brown’s Cabinet reshuffle, Mandelson returned to government as business secretary. He was raised to the peerage, becoming a member of the House of Lords.
Following the latest Epstein documents, Sir Keir Starmer has said Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords or use the title.
Mandelson is currently sitting as a non-affiliated peer.
On Starmer, Mandelson told The Times that the present government’s “U-turns are becoming a really bad look” and that the PM is failing to “follow through and win the argument.”
He went on to label Andy Burnham a “good Blairite” with “a lot of potential” following Burnham’s blocked by-election bid.
Mandelson, who recently served as Starmer’s pick as British Ambassador to the US until the PM had to sack him inSeptember, stated that “3 per cent of UK GDP on defence isn’t going to happen unless things are substantially cut elsewhere”.
In a significant shift from his “arch-remainer” past, Mandelson, who also served in the European Commission, warns that rejoining the EU is currently a non-starter for British business.
“As things stand, the EU will only have us back as supplicants. The price will be huge, the terms will be onerous. They will impose very tough terms: we would be forced to become a regulatory satellite of the EU,” he added.