Labour Peer Refuses to Apologise for Association with Convicted Paedophile, Says He Regrets 'System' that Failed Victims
In an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Lord Peter Mandelson declined to apologise to Jeffrey Epstein's victims for his association with the convicted paedophile financier, but expressed regret for "a system" that failed to protect them. The Labour peer was sacked as US ambassador in September after it emerged he had been friends with Epstein despite being aware of his conviction.
Mandelson described himself as having been "at the edge of this man's life", but admitted to being "misplaced loyalty" and "a most terrible mistake on my part". He claimed not to have known about Epstein's wrongdoing, saying that if he had, he would have apologised. However, Mandelson insisted he was not culpable and was only aware of Epstein's public persona.
Despite acknowledging the severity of his mistakes, Mandelson refused to take responsibility for his friendship with Epstein, saying instead that he felt powerless to stop Epstein's actions. He stated that the system failed the victims, and expressed regret for this failure.
The peer also spoke about the emails released in September, which showed his support for Epstein despite his conviction. In one email, Mandelson wrote: "I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened." His friendship with Epstein was already under scrutiny before he took up his post as US ambassador.
Mandelson's refusal to apologise to victims is likely to spark further controversy surrounding his association with Epstein. The Labour peer remains adamant that he will not seek to reopen the issue, but instead intends to move on from it.
In an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Lord Peter Mandelson declined to apologise to Jeffrey Epstein's victims for his association with the convicted paedophile financier, but expressed regret for "a system" that failed to protect them. The Labour peer was sacked as US ambassador in September after it emerged he had been friends with Epstein despite being aware of his conviction.
Mandelson described himself as having been "at the edge of this man's life", but admitted to being "misplaced loyalty" and "a most terrible mistake on my part". He claimed not to have known about Epstein's wrongdoing, saying that if he had, he would have apologised. However, Mandelson insisted he was not culpable and was only aware of Epstein's public persona.
Despite acknowledging the severity of his mistakes, Mandelson refused to take responsibility for his friendship with Epstein, saying instead that he felt powerless to stop Epstein's actions. He stated that the system failed the victims, and expressed regret for this failure.
The peer also spoke about the emails released in September, which showed his support for Epstein despite his conviction. In one email, Mandelson wrote: "I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened." His friendship with Epstein was already under scrutiny before he took up his post as US ambassador.
Mandelson's refusal to apologise to victims is likely to spark further controversy surrounding his association with Epstein. The Labour peer remains adamant that he will not seek to reopen the issue, but instead intends to move on from it.
I mean, you're friends with someone who's been convicted of hurting kids and you don't even bother to say sorry? It just seems like he's trying to spin the situation and make himself look better than he actually is. And saying it was a "system" that failed the victims instead of taking responsibility for his own actions... no, that doesn't cut it for me. 
I feel like he's not being honest about what happened and it's just really frustrating. The emails he released were pretty clear evidence that he knew about Epstein's problems, so it's hard to understand why he's still trying to distance himself from it all. 
. I mean, come on Lord Mandelson, take some responsibility for your actions? He's basically saying sorry for the system, not himself 
. And that's just not right. If you were friends with someone who was a convicted paedophile, how could you possibly claim to not know what they did? 
. Newsflash: being friends with someone doesn't make you innocent 
. And what really gets me is that he's still holding out on apologising to the victims 
. I guess some people just don't care about making amends 
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... i mean lord mandelson is basically saying that he's not responsible for his friendship with epstein because of some kind of systemic fail... but isn't that like, his job as a politician or something? shouldn't he be held to the same standards as everyone else? and what really gets me is that he claims to have been "at the edge" of epstein's life... like that's supposed to make it okay? 
. I don't think it's fair to shift the blame onto the 'system' when, in this case, you were aware of Epstein's conviction and chose to befriend him anyway 
. This whole situation is a mess, and I don't think Mandelson has done enough to make things right 
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and I'm like, have you guys seen those new pizza places in Camden? They're open 24/7 and the lines are always super long 
. I swear, I've been there twice already this week and I still haven't tried the truffle oil fries 
. Anyway, back to drones... they're so cool but also kinda scary when you think about it. What if they get hacked? 
. I mean, come on, Lord Mandelson knew about Epstein's conviction and still thinks it's okay to be friends with him? 
That's not "misplaced loyalty" or a "terrible mistake", that's just plain old bad judgment 
. I don't care if he was "at the edge of this man's life" or whatever, the fact remains that he knew about Epstein's crimes and chose to ignore them 
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. The victims and their families deserve better than some half-baked excuses and a lack of apology 
. your "regret" for a system that failed victims is pretty weak considering how close you were to epstein 
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. Meanwhile, his approval ratings among the general public are at an all-time low, with only 12% thinking he's doing a good job 
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. It's clear that the public is not buying what Mandelson is selling 
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I don't get why he's not more willing to take responsibility for his mistakes 
... i think he's trying to deflect attention from himself and shift blame onto a system that can't protect everyone 
...