Just before 10:30 last night, news broke that Lord Mandelson had resigned from the Labour Party, saying he didn’t want to “cause further embarrassment” over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson’s name appears among the millions of documents released on Friday relating to Epstein – the largest number shared by the US government since a law mandated their release last year.
Some documents suggest Epstein made payments to him between 2003 and 2004 that totalled $75,000 (now, £55,000). Mandelson says he has no record or recollection of receiving the sums and does not know whether the documents were authentic.
But in his letter to Labour’s general secretary, Mandelson writes: “I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this.”
It’s not the first time the former minister has been brought down by his friendship with Epstein – back in September, he was sacked by Keir Starmer as the UK’s ambassador to the US after revelations about their relationship.
We’ll be bringing you all the political reaction to Mandelson’s resignation, as well as the latest from the Epstein files – stick with us.
