Peter Mandelson, now Britain’s Ambassador to the US, became frustrated under questioning during an interview marking his new role – branding interest in his relationship with Epstein an ‘obsession’
Peter Mandelson launched into a sweary tirade at a journalist when asked about his ‘friendship’ with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Labour peer, now Britain’s Ambassador to the US, became frustrated under questioning during an interview with the Financial Times marking his new role – branding interest in his relationship with Epstein an “obsession” and telling the reporter to “f*** off”.
Lord Mandelson has not been accused of wrongdoing by an Epstein victim. But a 2019 JPMorgan internal report filed in a New York court in 2023 described multiple meetings between the two men, stating: “Jeffrey Epstein appears to maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British government.”
And emails which surfaced last week showed he was still in touch with the disgraced financier as recently as 2012. “I regret ever meeting him or being introduced to him by his partner Ghislaine Maxwell,” he told the Financial Times (FT).
“I regret even more the hurt he caused to many young women.” He went on: “I’m not going to go into this. It’s an FT obsession and frankly you can all f*** off. OK?”
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In a separate interview Lord Mandeslon – a New Labour-era Cabinet minister – also said his past comments about the US President Donald Trump were “childish”. He once described the Republic leader as “little short of a white nationalist and racist”.
And in 2019 he said: “Even those who have a sneaking admiration for Donald Trump because of his personality, nonetheless regard him as reckless, and a danger to the world.”
Lord Mandeslon, who will soon replace Dame Karen Pierce in Washington DC as the UK’s top diplomat, suggested he regretted the comments. He told the New York Times: “In 2019, I was a bit irate. But nonetheless, the words I used about the president were childish and wrong.”
The well-known politician has sought to play down past comments about Mr Trump since PM Keir Starmer appointed him to the ambassador role in December.
He praised Mr Trump as a “nice person” and a “fair-minded person” who could become “one of the most consequential American presidents I have known in my adult life” in an interview with Fox News last week.
