Labour MPs broke ranks to call for Lord Mandelson to quit over his Jeffrey Epstein links today as a squirming Keir Starmer insisted he still has confidence in the US ambassador.
Sir Keir is facing dissent in his own ranks after defending the peer, despite acknowledging Lord Mandelson was ‘right’ to express regret for an extraordinary birthday message branding the disgraced financier his ‘best pal’.
Repeatedly challenged at PMQs, the PM said still he has ‘confidence’ in the envoy. But he dodged questions over the vetting process, and whether details would be published.
The Commons clashes – which the Labour benches listened to in stony silence – came after Lord Mandelson admitted more ‘very embarrassing’ details will come about about his friendship with Epstein.
US politicians have released the former Cabinet minister’s holiday snaps from a visit in around 2002 to Epstein’s Caribbean island – dubbed ‘orgy island’ by one of his sex slaves.
Separately, emails revealed how Lord Mandelson worked with Epstein on a £1billion deal over the sale of a UK taxpayer-owned banking business after the American had been convicted of child sex offences.
Critics questioned whether his position remained tenable, just a week before the crucial state visit by Donald Trump to the UK in which the Labour peer will play a key role.
Labour deputy leadership candidate Bell Ribeiro-Addy said there should be a standards probe into Lord Mandelson, and he should resign if he has broken rules.
Fellow MP Kim Johnson echoed the criticism and laid the blame squarely at the door of Sir Keir, complaining ‘this was known before he was given this position’.
She told The Telegraph the birthday greeting indicated a ‘very strong relationship because who sends cards with those comments on?’
‘He should never have got it in the first place,’ continued the Liverpool Riverside MP.
Nadia Whittome said Lord Mandelson ‘shouldn’t have been appointed in the first place’, adding: ‘It is very clear that the PM must sack him immediately’.
Another backbencher, Ian Byrne, warned the situation ‘stinks to high heaven’.
The Labour peer has previously expressed his ‘regret’ for ever having met Epstein – who affectionately nicknamed him ‘Petie’. However, the full depth of their relationship has never been revealed.
Commenting for the first time on the revelations, Lord Mandelson said he felt ‘very embarrassed’, but suggested he saw a different side to the predator ‘because I’m a gay man’.
‘I never sought and nor did he offer any introductions to women in a way he originally did for others, perhaps it’s because I’m a gay man,’ he told podcast Harry Cole Saves the West.
Keir Starmer writhed today over what he knew, and when, about Lord Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein
Lord Mandelson – who once infamously declared himself ‘intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich’ – in a fluffy white dressing gown enjoying a chat with Jeffrey Epstein
Lord Mandelson gazing out of a balcony window in what appears to be Epstein’s house on his private island in the Caribbean
Mandelson’s message in the ‘birthday book’ compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell said Epstein was ‘my best pal!’
Referring to more information that could soon emerge about his relationship with Epstein, he continued: ‘I don’t believe I’m named in the Epstein files. I have no doubt at all that there’s a lot of traffic, correspondence, exchanges, emails between us.
‘And we know those are going to surface, we know they’re going to come out, we know they’re going to be very embarrassing and we know that I am going profoundly to regret ever having met him and been introduced to him in the first place.
‘But I can’t rewrite history. What I can do is express my profound sympathy for those who have been trafficked by him and secondly I can accept, yes, I can accept, that I continued my association with him for too long.’
He continued: ‘I regret very much that I fell for his lies, I fell for and accepted assurances that he had given me about his indictment, his original criminal case in Florida, like very many people, I took at face value what he said.
‘With hindsight, with fresh information, many years later, we realised that we had been wrong to believe him.
‘He is a charismatic criminal liar, we now see, and I regret very much indeed. I felt it like an albatross around my neck since his death.
‘I feel a tremendous sense of regret, not only that I met him in the first place, but that I continued the association, and I took, at face value, the lies that he fed me and many others.’
Kemi Badenoch kicked off her questions in the House by asking whether Sir Keir had confidence in Lord Mandelson.
He replied: ‘Let me start by saying the victims of Epstein are at the forefront of our minds. He was a despicable criminal who committed the most heinous crimes and destroyed the lives of so many women and girls.
‘The ambassador has repeatedly expressed his deep regret for his association with him. He is right to do so. I have confidence in him, and he is playing an important role in the UK-US relationship.’
The Tory leader shot back that Epstein victims had called for Lord Mandelson to be sacked, adding: ‘Just so the House is aware, in 2019 Jeffrey Epstein was convicted of child prostitution and sex trafficking that took place between 2002 and 2005, the precise period [during] which Lord Mandelson called Jeffrey Epstein his best pal.
‘Was the Prime Minister aware of this intimate relationship when he appointed Lord Mandelson to be our ambassador in Washington?’
A clearly uncomfortable Sir Keir said: ‘As she and the House would expect, full due process was followed during this appointment, as it is with all ambassadors. The ambassador has repeatedly expressed his deep regret, he is right to do so, he’s now playing an important part in the US-UK relationship.’
Sir Keir ducked as Mrs Badenoch demanded the publication of all documents on the vetting of the ambassador, and urged him to order Lord Mandelson to ‘publish all his correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein’.
Lord Mandelson with Jeffrey Epstein on December 12, 2005, where he is seen trying on a belt during a visit to a boutique in the Caribbean
Mandelson and a friend enjoy a boat ride together as guests of Epstein
Lord Mandelson, who was appointed by Sir Keir Starmer as Britain’s ambassador to the US, is pictured here with Donald Trump in the Oval Office in May 2025
Mrs Badenoch said she wanted to know what the PM had to hide
Rosie Duffield, who quit Labour, compared her treatment to that of Lord Mandelson
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey raised concerns what other ‘compromising material’ the Trump administration might have on Lord Mandelson.
‘Lord Mandelson has admitted to continuing his relationship long after Epstein was convicted, and there are more embarrassing details we don’t yet know,’ he said.
‘People will be surprised by the Prime Minister giving Ambassador Mandelson such strong support today.
‘Has the Prime Minister asked the ambassador what other compromising materials the Trump administration might have on him, as he leads Britain’s negotiations with the White House?’
Sir Keir responded: ‘A full due process was gone through when the appointment was made.’
Outside the chamber, Downing Street insisted Lord Mandelson went through a robust vetting process before being appointed ambassador.
The PM’s official spokesman said: ‘We have been very clear that the victims of Jeffrey Epstein are at the forefront of our minds, he was a despicable criminal who committed the most heinous crimes and destroyed the lives of so many women and girls.
‘On the appointment process, any candidates for ambassador positions are subject to extensive vetting and background checks by the Foreign Office and Cabinet Office as a matter of course.’
Asked if the Prime Minister was surprised by the latest revelations, the spokesman said: ‘The ambassador himself has repeatedly addressed the association.’
Ms Ribeiro-Addy was questioned on whether Lord Mandelson should remain as ambassador. ‘No… I think that’s going to disturb quite a few people,’ she told the i newspaper.
‘There should definitely be an investigation into it because there will be a huge amount of concern and if the outcome is that he should resign, he should.’
Mr Byrne told The Independent: ‘MPs get suspended by the party like I did for voting against putting children into poverty, but calling world’s most infamous pedophile and child trafficker your “best pal” amongst other comments, that’s ok. It stinks to high heaven.’
Although Lord Mandelson has voiced regret about his links to Epstein, in June he accused the Financial Times of being ‘obsessed’ with the situation and said they could ‘f*** off’.
On Monday night, Democrats in Congress released a ten-page greeting handwritten by Lord Mandelson as part of a 238-page photobook compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003 by his on-off girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
The ‘birthday book’ features lewd messages from friends and associates of the billionaire US paedophile, apparently including Bill Clinton, Mr Trump – who claims it is fake – and an unnamed bikini-clad ‘assistant’ of Epstein who claims she met Prince Andrew and sat on the Queen’s throne in Buckingham Palace.
Lord Mandelson’s contribution weaves tributes to Epstein as a ‘mysterious’ and ‘intelligent, sharp-witted man’ into a lyrical picture story set over ten pages.
The photos are Lord Mandelson’s holiday snaps, believed to be from a 2002 visit to Little St James, Epstein’s private island, which was later dubbed ‘paedo island’.
One image shows Lord Mandelson wearing just swimming shorts and gazing from a balcony, with the description that ‘you would spend many hours just waiting for him [Epstein] to turn up’.
Another shows a smiling Lord Mandelson in a fluffy dressing gown chatting to his host beneath a handwritten declaration that: ‘Wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal!’
On the last page, he writes: ‘Happy birthday Jeffrey – we love you!!’
There is no suggestion that he was aware of any of Epstein’s crimes.
The birthday greeting was penned five years before Epstein’s conviction in 2008 for soliciting underage sex, although Lord Mandelson has not denied staying at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion the following year after his release from prison.
Meanwhile, emails show how Mandelson, who was business secretary at the time, took advice from Epstein during the 2010 sale of an RBS energy trading arm to JP Morgan, just months after the disgraced financier was released from jail for child sex offences.
Epstein is said to have introduced Mandelson to Jes Staley, then a top banker at JP Morgan, who has since been banned from the City over his links to the paedophile.
Lord Mandelson, 71, will play a significant part in next week’s state visit by Mr Trump, including as a VIP guest at the white-tie state banquet held in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle.
His job will be to smooth any diplomatic ripples to ensure King Charles and Queen Camilla can host the perfect event when they welcome Mr Trump and his wife, Melania, to Windsor Castle between September 17 and 19.
A woman listed as a former assistant of paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein wrote of meeting the Duke of York and visiting the private quarters of Buckingham Palace
The unidentified woman wrote Epstein transformed her life from a hotel hostess
She wrote of how she visited Buckingham Palace and sat on the Queen’s throne
Epstein victims have called for Lord Mandelson to be sacked.
Former ‘sex slave’ Sarah Ransome, 41, said that ‘something is really, really wrong here’.
She told The Telegraph: ‘Peter Mandelson should not be ambassador. He needs to be fired.
‘He is unsuitable to be ambassador. Keir Starmer must have known all this.
‘Everybody knew about Peter Mandelson’s close friendship with Epstein.’
Spencer Kuvin, a lawyer who represented nine of Epstein’s victims, said: ‘Allowing someone with clear ties to one of the worst sex abusers of our time to be ambassador is an insult to the victims of Epstein.
‘This man should be questioned by the FBI and the UK Government immediately to find out what he knows.’
Nazir Afzal, the former chief prosecutor for north-west England, said: ‘The most I’ve written in a birthday card to another man is probably “Happy Birthday Son”.
‘Mandelson writes poetry to [Epstein] with whom he stayed after conviction. Now he’s ambassador to the government of another of Epstein’s chums! A “regret” isn’t enough, I’m afraid.’
Craig Murray, a former British ambassador to authoritarian Uzbekistan, posted the photo of the two men and remarked: ‘Peter Mandelson, now Starmer’s ambassador to the USA, with Jeffrey Epstein.
‘I was sacked as ambassador for opposing torture and illegal rendition. The world of power is a dark place indeed.’
A birthday letter that US President Donald Trump allegedly wrote to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He denies its veracity
In the 2003 birthday message, Lord Mandelson wrote about Epstein’s ‘glorious homes he likes to share with his friends (yum yum)’, alongside a photo of Little St James, the idyllic island in the Caribbean which, it later emerged, had been a place where schoolchildren were molested.
Fringed by coral reefs, it served as Epstein’s lair and was allegedly the ‘perfect hideaway and haven for trafficking young women and underage girls for sexual servitude, child abuse and sexual assault’, according to a lawsuit brought by the Virgin Islands against Epstein’s estate in 2020.
Among those allegedly trafficked to the beauty spot was Epstein’s 17-year-old sex slave Virginia Roberts, who labelled it ‘orgy island’ and said she was sexually assaulted there by Prince Andrew, which he has always vehemently denied.
Ms Roberts – later Virginia Giuffre – spoke about seeing countless women and girls on Little St James, claiming she was ‘passed around like a platter of fruit’ to Epstein’s powerful friends between 2000 and 2002 at a number of locations.
There is no suggestion that her visits to the island coincided with Lord Mandelson’s. In 2002 he was a Labour MP, having resigned from Tony Blair’s Cabinet.
In one of the peer’s photos, he is pictured on the island with two women – their faces obscured – and is being served breakfast by one of them. One of the women identified herself yesterday as Cathy Alexander, 70, Epstein’s former housekeeper.
She told The Telegraph she believed the other woman, wearing a white vest and black bikini bottoms, was Maxwell.
Peter’s photo casebook – Lord Mandelson’s ten-page birthday greeting to Epstein:
The first page of Lord Mandelson’s ten-page birthday greeting to Jeffrey Epstein hails him as ‘mysterious’
On the second page, a topless Lord Mandelson wearing swimming shorts gazes out of a balcony, with the caption: ‘…waiting for him to turn up’
The story continues on page three of the letter
Page four: In one photo Mandelson is stood next to two females, one wearing a white vest and black underwear. Above, he writes that Epstein would leave ‘you with some “interesting” friends to entertain’
Page five of the letter: reminiscing about dogs on the island
Page six: how Epstein would ‘parachute back in’ to your life
Page seven: surprise whiskey reference
Page eight: apparently a holiday snap taken by Mandelson of Epstein’s Caribbean island
Page nine: Mandelson captioned this grinning photo of himself with Epstein and said he was ‘my best pal!’
Page ten: the final page of the letter, a happy snap of Mandelson with a friend, believed to be his long-term partner and now-husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva
Lord Mandelson’s handwritten caption on the photo states that Epstein would go away and leave ‘you with some “interesting” friends to entertain’.
Mrs Alexander said Lord Mandelson stayed there for a week with his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva, 53, whom he married two years ago.
She recalled him as a ‘gentleman’ and ‘a very nice guy’. The housekeeper said she had never seen anything untoward during her time looking after Epstein.
Maxwell, 63, is serving 20 years in jail for recruiting young girls for Epstein to sexually abuse.
According to a court document filed in 2023, Epstein and Lord Mandelson had ‘a particularly close friendship’. A photo, thought to be from 2005, showed Lord Mandelson wearing a £21,000 Patek Philippe watch with Epstein in the US Virgin Islands.
By then Epstein was under police investigation over multiple allegations of sexually assaulting schoolgirls. There is no suggestion that Lord Mandelson, then on a taxpayer-funded £200,000 salary as EU trade commissioner, knew anything of the accusations.
For years, Epstein entertained an A-list roster of guests on his island, including Naomi Campbell and Kevin Spacey. Ex-US President Clinton denies being a visitor, and all deny wrongdoing.
Mr Trump – who once told New York Magazine that Epstein ‘likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side’ – has played down his association with the financier.
Another drawing in the birthday book depicts a young Epstein enticing schoolgirls with balloons and lollipops, in 1983, and an older Epstein being massaged by topless women
Bill Clinton’s 50th birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein praising his ‘childlike curiosity’ is seen for the first time
In the ‘birthday book’, there is a bawdy sketch allegedly signed by Mr Trump showing a woman’s body with the line: ‘Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret’. The White House says it is ‘fake news’.
Mr Clinton’s birthday message praised Epstein’s ‘childlike curiosity’. Mr Clinton has long maintained he did not know of the allegations against Epstein.
Another drawing in the birthday book depicts a young Epstein enticing schoolgirls with balloons and lollipops, and an older Epstein being massaged by topless women, while a jet – presumably the billionaire’s infamous ‘Lolita Express’ – flies over his mansion.
Lord Mandelson’s office, the British Embassy in Washington and the Foreign Office in London were asked to comment yesterday.
