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THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR to the US Peter Mandelson has said a resurfaced birthday message in which he described paedophile Jeffrey Epstein as his “best pal” is “very embarrassing to see and to read”.
Mandelson’s words could be seen in a 2003 “birthday book” compiled by convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, which was published by the House Oversight Committee in the US following a request for documents from the Epstein estate.
Speaking to The Sun’s Harry Cole Saves The West programme, Mandelson said he regrets “very, very deeply indeed carrying on” the association with Epstein “for far longer than I should have done”.
He said he “never saw the wrongdoing” or “evidence of criminal activity”, adding he does not believe he is “named in the Epstein files”.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer voiced his support for Mandelson in the House of Commons today.
Starmer described Epstein as a “despicable criminal” who “destroyed the lives of so many women and girls”.
But he added: “The ambassador has repeatedly expressed his deep regret for his association with him. He is right to do so. I have confidence in him.”
Starmer also insisted in the face of multiple questions from opposition parties that “full due process” was followed in appointing Mandelson as ambassador.
Giving his reaction to his birthday comments to Epstein being published, Mandelson told The Sun: “I find them very embarrassing to see and to read, but they were written before he was indicted.
“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.”
“I just feel two things now – one, I feel a tremendous sense, a profound sense of sympathy for those people, those women, who suffered as a result of his behaviour and his illegal criminal activities.
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“Secondly, I regret very, very deeply indeed carrying on that association with him for far longer than I should have done.”
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 in 2018 or 19, when it was.
“I feel, I feel a tremendous sense of regret, not only that I met him in the first place, but I continued the association, and I took, at face value, the lies that he fed me and many others.”
In the ‘Friends’ section of the book, which is titled The First Fifty Years, Mandelson’s birthday message to Epstein features short notes accompanied by photos.
The message begins on page 136 of the document and says: “Once upon a time, an intelligent, sharp-witted man they call ‘mysterious’ parachuted into my life…”
“You would spend many hours just waiting for him to turn up,” the message continues.
“And often, no sooner were you getting used to having him around, you would suddenly be alone… again.
“Leaving you with some ‘interesting’ friends to entertain instead,” the message continues, written above a picture of Mandelson with two women whose faces have been blocked out in the document.
The message goes on to say that Mandelson would then run into Epstein in “far-off places” or “in one of his glorious homes he liked to share with his friends (yum yum)”.
He signs off the message saying: “But, wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal.”
“I can’t rewrite history,” Mandelson said.
“What I can do is express my profound sympathy for those who were badly treated by him. And… I can accept that I continued my association with him for too long.”
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Speaking about what he knew about Epstein, Mandelson told The Sun: “He operated in a financial and business way, way above my level.
“Yes, he was always saying, ‘Would you like to see so-and-so, I got this friend, I’m having this dinner. Would you like to come?’
“He was a prolific social networker and a political networker. That is true.
“I just would say this… during all the time I was an associate of his, I never saw the wrongdoing. I never saw any evidence of criminal activity.
“I never sought and nor did he offer any introductions to women in the way that allegedly he did for others.
“Perhaps it’s because I’m a gay man, perhaps when I knew him, perhaps when I was associated with him those years ago, as I did with my then partner and now husband, we never, ever saw any evidence or sign of this activity, which has since come to light.
“That’s why I feel so profoundly upset by what has been now revealed about what he did to women and why I feel profoundly upset that I was taken in by him and continued my association with him for far longer than I should have.”
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Mandelson added: “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 between us, absolutely. 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 they know that I’m going to profoundly regret ever having met him and been introduced to him in the first place.
“But I can’t rewrite history. What I can do, what I can do is express my profound sympathy for those who were badly treated by him.
“And secondly, I can accept, yes, I can accept that I continued my association with him for too long.”
With reporting from David Mac Redmond
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