Lord Mandelson has admitted his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffery Epstein went on “for far longer” than it should have done.
The under-fire US Ambassador described the relationship as “albatross around his neck” and said he had a “deep regret” at remaining in contact with the sex offender after he was convicted for underage sex crimes in 2008.
In an interview with Harry Cole Saves The West, Lord Mandelson said that he "never saw any evidence of criminal activity" and was not offered introductions to women by the late banker, adding "perhaps it's because I'm a gay man".
The UK’s most senior diplomat in the US is facing criticism after it was revealed he sent a gushing 10 page letter in 2003 where he declared Epstein his “best pal”.
From the 238-page book, titled The First Fifty Years, Lord Mandelson's message to Epstein showed him pictured with two unidentified women, whose faces are blocked out in the documents, preceded by the message: "Leaving you with some 'interesting' friends to entertain instead."
He signs off the message saying: "But, wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal."
Lord Mandelson said he found his comments “very embarrassing to see and to read, but they were written before he was indicted”.
He told the Sun: "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.
"Secondly, I regret very, very deeply indeed carrying on that association with him for far longer than I should have done."
He added: "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."
Lord Mandelson said he did not believe he was "named in the Epstein files", but added there had been "a lot of traffic, correspondence, exchanges" between himself and the convicted sex offender.
“We know they're going to surface, we know they're going to come out, they're going to be embarrassing,” he added.
It comes amid reports that Epstein brokered a £1billion deal with the then Business Secretary over the sale of a UK taxpayer-owned banking business after he was convicted of child sex offences.
Emails suggest the agreement was negotiated just months after Epstein was released from prison for his crimes.
Sempra Commodities, a joint venture between the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Sempra Energy, was sold to US finance corporation JP Morgan in a deal on which Epstein gave advice to both Lord Mandelson and to the company’s senior executive Jes Staley, the Telegraph reported.
Mr Staley has since been banned from the City over his relationship with the disgraced financier.
The Conservatives have demanded an investigation into Lord Mandelson’s close friendship with Epstein and any commercial dealings the pair may have had.
Education minister Josh MacAlister said Lord Mandelson still retained the backing of the Government and he warned against finding people "guilty by association".
He told ITV he had not seen Lord Mandelson's interview, but added: "Yes, the ambassador has the support of Government."
Mr MacAlister added: "People who abuse people in this way are often very good at hiding what they're doing and... manipulating people. And that's obviously what Jeffrey Epstein did.
"Again, I don't know the history and the details. I haven't seen the interview. But the whole way in which these people operate and are able to continue their abuse is often by being highly manipulative.
"So we need to be careful not to make everybody guilty by association.”
