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By SABRINA PENTY, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Lord Mandelson allegedly failed to declare two flights paid for by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein while he was an MP.
The Labour peer did not disclose in the House of Commons register of interests two flights he took at the expense of the disgraced financier, which are worth around £5,555, in 2003.
The flights appear in a cache of documents released earlier this month by the US House of Representatives oversight committee and seen by the Financial Times.
One trip refers to two flights for ‘MandelsonPeter’, one on April 4, 2003, costing $3,844.90, and the other on April 11 2003, at $3,642.06.
Lord Mandelson failed to declare the flights in the register of interests, which at the time required officials to disclose visits abroad costing more than £564.
Sir Alistair Graham, chairman of the government’s committee on standards in public life at the time, told the Financial Times there was a ‘very strong case’ Lord Mandelson should have declared the trip.
‘I think if there was any hint that it had a connection with his political role, then there can be no doubt about it. He should have declared it,’ he said.
The receipt is believed to be the first piece of evidence to suggest Epstein paid for Lord Mandelson’s travel.
Lord Mandelson in a fluffy white dressing gown enjoying a chat with Jeffrey Epstein
Lord Mandelson gazing out of a balcony window in what appears to be Epstein’s house on his private island in the Caribbean
Mandelson’s message in the ‘birthday book’ compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell said Epstein was ‘my best pal!’
Mandelson did not respond to the FT’s request for comment.
The Labour peer’s relationship with Epstein has come under extraordinary scrutiny after the release of a ten-page letter in which he described him as his ‘best pal’.
The note, written for Epstein’s 50th birthday album in 2003, gushed: ‘Once upon a time, an intelligent, sharp-witted man they call ‘mysterious’ parachuted into my life.’
On another page beside a picture of Epstein’s private island, Mandelson wrote about him entertaining ‘in one of his glorious homes he likes to share with his friends (yum yum)’.
The message ended: ‘But wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal! Happy Birthday Jeffrey. We love you!!’
The album, compiled by Epstein’s former lover Ghislaine Maxwell – now serving 20 years in a US jail for sex trafficking – was published on Monday by the US House Oversight Committee, which is investigating Epstein’s sordid network of friends.
He was then withdrawn as ambassador to the US last week after emails revealed the depth of his relationship with the paedophile financier.
Lord Mandelson, who was appointed by Sir Keir Starmer as Britain’s ambassador to the US, is pictured here with Donald Trump in the Oval Office in May 2025
Sir Keir Starmer, who picked the Labour grandee to be the UK’s representative in Washington, made the decision after emails showed the peer sent supportive messages even as Epstein faced jail for sex offences.
The Foreign Office said the emails showed ‘the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment’.
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