Lord Mandelson has offered a personal apology to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein over his decision to maintain a friendship with the late paedophile after his conviction.The former cabinet minister had faced criticism after he offered a limited apology for system failures that had let women down, in a BBC interview on Sunday.But in a statement to BBC Newsnight on Monday, Lord Mandelson went further: “Yesterday, I did not want to be held responsible for his [Jeffrey Epstein’s] crimes of which I was ignorant, not indifferent, because of the lies he told me and so many others.”I was wrong to believe him following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered.”The government dismissed Lord Mandelson as its ambassador to the US last September. Downing Street said “new information” had emerged relating to the former ambassador’s friendship with Epstein. Emails revealed Lord Mandelson had been in contact with Epstein after the American financier’s first conviction in 2008, where he advised Epstein to clear his name in a string of supportive messages.Epstein’s first conviction was part of a plea bargain he reached in Florida. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges, including soliciting girls as young as 14 for prostitution.In 2019, Epstein died in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.In his first interview since his dismissal as ambassador on the BBC’s Sunday with Lau …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnLord Mandelson has offered a personal apology to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein over his decision to maintain a friendship with the late paedophile after his conviction.The former cabinet minister had faced criticism after he offered a limited apology for system failures that had let women down, in a BBC interview on Sunday.But in a statement to BBC Newsnight on Monday, Lord Mandelson went further: “Yesterday, I did not want to be held responsible for his [Jeffrey Epstein’s] crimes of which I was ignorant, not indifferent, because of the lies he told me and so many others.”I was wrong to believe him following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered.”The government dismissed Lord Mandelson as its ambassador to the US last September. Downing Street said “new information” had emerged relating to the former ambassador’s friendship with Epstein. Emails revealed Lord Mandelson had been in contact with Epstein after the American financier’s first conviction in 2008, where he advised Epstein to clear his name in a string of supportive messages.Epstein’s first conviction was part of a plea bargain he reached in Florida. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges, including soliciting girls as young as 14 for prostitution.In 2019, Epstein died in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.In his first interview since his dismissal as ambassador on the BBC’s Sunday with Lau …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
