A cabinet minister has said anyone associated with Jeffrey Epstein should "apologise" to his victims after Lord Mandelson declined to do so. The former US ambassador refused to apologise for his personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein when interviewed by the BBC this morning.
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Asked by Sky News’ political reporter Ben Bloch whether Lord Mandelson should have apologised, Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: "I saw some of the interview this morning. "I think everyone associated with Epstein should be apologising for the lapse of judgement that led to any kind of relationship with that man."
Lord Mandelson, who was sacked last September over emails which showed the extent of his support for the convicted paedophile following his conviction, told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he had paid a "calamitous" price for their association. But he told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he "never saw anything in his life when I was with him, when I was in his homes, that would give me any reason to suspect what this evil monster was doing in preying on these young women. "I think the issue is that because I was a gay man in his circle, I was kept separate from what he was doing in the sexual side of his life."
Asked whether he wanted to apologise to Epstein’s victims, Lord Mandelson said he wanted to apologise for a "system that refused to hear their voices and did not give them the protection they were entitled to expect." But pressed on whether he would apologise for his personal actions, Lord Mandelson said: "If I had known, if I was in any way complicit or culpable, of course I would apologise… but I was not culpable, I was not knowledgeable for what he was doing, and I regret, and will regret to my dying day, the fact that powerless women were not given the protection they were entitled to expect." "I saw some of the interview this morning. I think everyone associated with Epstein (should be) apologising for the lapse of judgement that led to any kind of relationship with that man."
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor but Lord Mandelson said he believed his excuses and continued to support him.
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Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the programme: "I think what we saw there in that interview was, at best, deep naivety from Peter Mandelson. "And I think it would have gone a long way for the women who were subjected to the most appalling treatment at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein for Peter to have apologised and taken that opportunity."
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.