Scandal will end Mandelson
PETER MANDELSON has previously enjoyed more comebacks than Elvis, Frank Sinatra and Tiger Woods put together.
But the exposure of the full extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is so shocking that he must now be finished once and for all.
Indeed, Lord Mandelson will be lucky if he escapes from this latest scandal with only his peerage being stripped.
He might well also face a criminal investigation after MPs reported him to the cops and Sir Keir Starmer ordered a probe by the Cabinet Secretary into possible misconduct.
Yesterday, the deluge of revelations dredged from the Epstein files were jaw-dropping.
It is bad enough that Mandelson appears to have accepted £75,000 from Epstein when he was Hartlepool MP — while his partner took a £10,000 loan AFTER paedophile Epstein had been convicted.
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Far worse is how as Business Secretary in 2009 following the financial crisis, Mandelson rushed to sell out his own Government — including former PM Gordon Brown — to potentially help billionaire Epstein make money.
In one appalling breach of trust, he suggested Epstein tell his rich investment banker friends that they make “mild threats” towards then Chancellor Alistair Darling to force him to dilute plans for taxes on bankers’ bonuses.
Yesterday it emerged senior bankers DID subsequently coordinate an attack on Darling.
Mandelson also emailed Epstein to give him advance notice of a €500billion bailout of the then plunging euro.
That was market-sensitive information from the highest possible level which would have been invaluable to the American’s network of investors.
Who knows what other secrets he passed on?
The Cabinet Secretary’s probe must not end in another cover up.
Epstein managed to reach right into the heart of our Government — thanks to Mandelson’s enthusiastic assistance.
The extent of his contact with Epstein raises huge questions about the judgement of Starmer and his advisers in No10, and what they knew about his previous conduct.
They needlessly replaced Washington ambassador Karen Pierce with Mandelson KNOWING he came with more baggage than a footballer’s WAG at Heathrow.
Meanwhile, Mandelson — like Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — has shown gargantuan levels of arrogance throughout.
Both believed they were above suspicion.
Now that more tawdry evidence has been exposed, Andy and Mandy are more likely to be dragged before the US Congress to testify about what they knew about Epstein’s crimes.
After that, both men should disappear from public view . . . for good.
