It follows further revelations about his friendship with Epstein
Lord Peter Mandelson said he has resigned his membership of the Labour Party to avoid causing it ‘further embarrassment’ following further revelations about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
In a statement given to the Press Association, he said he had written to the general secretary of the Labour Party, Hollie Ridley on Sunday evening (February 1).
It came after Lord Mandelson said he did not remember receiving payments from paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein which totalled 75,000 US dollars made when he was a Labour MP. The peer, who was sacked as US ambassador last year because of his links to Epstein, appeared to feature in several bank statements released in the huge tranche of files related to the disgraced financier by the US government.
In one bank statement, a payment of 25,000 US dollars to the account of Reinaldo Avila da Silva, now Lord Mandelson’s husband, features on May 14, 2003. The statement appears to describe “Peter Mandelson” as the beneficiary of the payment, as the allocation “BEN” appears next to his name.
Two later statements from May and June 2004 also feature 25,000 dollar payments to Lord Mandelson, one to an account which appears in his name, and another in which he appears to be listed as a beneficiary. At the time, he was serving as Labour MP for Hartlepool.
Lord Mandelson told the BBC he had no recollection of receiving the payments, and did not know if the documents were genuine.
Other disclosures from the latest Epstein files show a man who appears to be Lord Mandelson in a series of undated photographs, stood in his pants and a T-shirt alongside a woman whose face has been hidden. The peer told the BBC he “cannot place the location or the woman and I cannot think what the circumstances were”.
Elsewhere, the files appeared to show Mr da Silva was transferred thousands of pounds by Epstein to pay for a fee so he could attend the British School of Osteopathy. Lord Mandelson has previously offered an unequivocal apology to Epstein’s victims. He has also insisted he had “nothing more to add” on his links to Epstein. Being pictured or mentioned in the Epstein files is not an indicator of any wrongdoing.
In his letter on Sunday, he said: “I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this. Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.
“While doing this, I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party. I want to take this opportunity to repeat my apology to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now.
“I have dedicated my life to the values and success of the Labour Party and in taking my decision, I believe I am acting in its best interests.”
