UK’s Mandelson quits Labour as Epstein ties resurface

Peter Mandelson, the United Kingdom’s former ambassador to the United States, has resigned from the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer after fresh disclosures linked him again to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to UK media reports.

Mandelson, who was removed as London’s top representative in Washington last year after emails emerged detailing his associations with Epstein, said he stepped away from party membership to avoid causing further embarrassment, reports said on Sunday.

“I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this,” Mandelson wrote in a letter reported by the BBC and The Guardian.

He said he believed reports that he received several payments from Epstein in the early 2000s were false, but that he needed to investigate them. Mandelson previously told the BBC he had no recollection of the payments and did not know whether the documents were genuine, reiterating his regret for “ever having known” Epstein.

“While doing this I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party,” he said in the letter. “I want to take this opportunity to repeat my apology to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now. I have dedicated my life to the values and success of the Labour party and in taking my decision, I believe I am acting in its best interests.”

The resignation follows reporting by the Financial Times and the BBC on documents that appear to show Mandelson and his partner received payments totalling $75,000 from Epstein in 2003 and 2004. The records were part of investigative files released on Friday by the US Department of Justice.

That release also included an image showing Mandelson in his underwear next to a woman whose face was obscured by US authorities. Mandelson told the BBC he “cannot place the location or the woman and I cannot think what the circumstances were”.

Emails made public by the DOJ appear to show Mandelson telling Epstein in 2009 that he was “trying hard” to water down a tax on bank bonuses announced while he was serving as business secretary. According to the emails, reported by the Telegraph and the Financial Times, Mandelson suggested that Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan, should “mildly threaten” the UK’s chancellor over the levy.