MPs demand Mandelson return to Britain and face questions over 'sickening and disturbing' Epstein emails

Many in Parliament are calling on the Prime Minister to sack his US ambassador, after files appeared to show he hand-wrote a 2003 birthday note to the sex trafficker, in which he described Epstein as his "best pal".

He also sent messages of support via email to the deceased billionaire in 2008 while he was being investigated for sex offences, telling him: "I think the world of you, and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened."

Questions have been raised as to why Sir Keir appointed Lord Mandelson, after reports suggest the PM gave his Labour peer the job despite knowing about his friendship with Epstein after his conviction.

Nigel Farage told LBC that the appointment made the Premier's judgement look "dreadful", adding that his decisions would be "called into question" by MPs, including those on his own backbenches.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the Reform UK leader said: "The fact is we can all make mistakes. We can all misjudge people, we can all have unwise friendships, we probably all have in our lives. But the fact that after the conviction, he [Mandelson] was still trying to help him when he was business secretary with a business deal, that I'm afraid is just too much

I think Keir's judgement will be seriously called into question. And you do get the feeling that his back benches have completely fallen out of love with him. And it just seems bizarre, doesn't it, that just 15 months on from a stunning election, massive election victory, he suddenly looks a bit vulnerable."

Read more: ‘Your friends love you’: Lord Mandelson comforts 'best pal' Epstein to 'be resilient' after arrest

One of Sir Keir's junior minister called Peter Mandelson's relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein "sickening and disturbing".

Mike Tapp, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Citizenship, told LBC the 2008 emails reminded him "what this vile criminal Epstein did".

But the Labour MP fell short of calling for Lord Mandelson to be removed, saying he had "full confidence" in the PM's vetting process before appointing key figures in his team.

"I've read those emails myself and I find it really disturbing and sickening. The Prime Minister has told us that he's been through due process," he told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast.

"The Prime Minister said that he has confidence in his ability as ambassador, and that process was followed. Now, my understanding of that process is that it's a vetting process, and I've been through vetting myself in the past for the jobs that I've done.

"And, you know, it's about being honest and having integrity. And if Keir Starmer says he has confidence in that, then he has confidence in that."

Frustration has been growing in Parliament ever since the files, which included a photo of Lord Mandelson speaking to Epstein while dressed in a bathrobe, were released.

The leaked emails also revealed Lord Mandelson told the paedophile financier that “Your friends stay with you and love you," before he was sent to jail.

MPs are furious that Lord Mandelson's status as a member of the House of Lords means a select committee cannot force him to appear before them.

Committees have the power to summon people to give evidence, and find them in contempt of Parliament if they do not comply.

According to Sky News, the powerful Foreign Affairs Select Committee of MPs made a request to hear from Lord Mandelson after he was appointed by the PM, but this was blocked by the Foreign Office.

The high-profile lawyer told LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr that if Lord Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador to the US, “just wants to remain silent, that's not enough. He should resign.”

Across the pond, a lawyer who represents 27 of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims told LBC on Wednesday that Lord Mandelson "should resign" if he doesn’t help the investigation into the sex trafficker.

Gloria Allred said Lord Mandelson should testify in Congress and tell “anything and everything he knows … because after all, he knows a lot”.

The survivors want accountability, they want transparency, they want the truth to be known,” she said. “They know their own truth, but they want to know the big picture and they want [collaborators] to be held accountable.”

“Any third party, any rich, powerful, famous man or not so famous man who might have known Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell, associated with them.

“And if that person, that man enabled them, assisted them in sex trafficking or sexually exploiting children or adults, then that person should also be held accountable,” she added.

Mandelson has been trying to put distance between himself and Epstein, and has apologised for carrying on his friendship with the sex trafficker "for far longer than I should have done."

“I feel a tremendous sense, a profound sense of sympathy for those people, those women, who suffer as a result of his behaviour and his illegal criminal activities. I regret very, very deeply indeed carrying on that association with him for far longer than I should have done,” he said.

But many, including Ms Allred, say his apology doesn’t go far enough, and are calling for Mr Mandelson to be sacked.

“If he's willing to do nothing but say, I regret knowing Jeffrey Epstein, that's nothing,” she said.

“That's like, I got my hand caught in the cookie jar and I'm sorry. And that's supposed to be enough. This is about a sexual predator, Mr. Epstein, who committed crimes against children.”

She added: “If he doesn't reach out, if he doesn't volunteer to say what he knows, then I think he should resign. Because maybe it was fun and games for him on that boat we saw him on, smiling and happy in the sunshine, in the water.

“It wasn't that happy day, happy vacation time for many of the victims … If he just wants to remain silent, that's not enough. He should resign.”

Shortly before Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in jail, Lord Mandelson said to "fight for early release".

In leaked messaged, via The Sun, he wrote: “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened.

"I can still barely understand it. It just could not happen in Britain. You have to be incredibly resilient, fight for early release and be philosophical about it as much as you can."

He added in an email: “Everything can be turned into an opportunity and that you will come through it and be stronger for it.

"The whole thing has been years of torture and now you have to show the world how big a person you are, and how strong.”

He said: “I hope that I'm doing a good enough job as Ambassador here in the United States to continue.”

Lord Mandelson did not dispute the truth of the messages, but repeated an apology first given in an interview on Harry Cole Saves the West.

Mandelson also reportedly encouraged former Tony Blair Prime Minister to meet Epstein in a 2002 note sent to key aides.

Documents were due to be made public, but this was blocked by officials.

It is believed that officials agreed the document may have embarrassed Britain and harm relations with the US as Mandelson looks to make a connection with President Trump, The Times reported.

Mandelson has confessed to carrying on his friendship with sex monster Epstein "for far longer than I should have done."

He told of his ‘deep regret’ for continuing his contact with the paedophile financier even after he was convicted of sex crimes.

The Labour grandee said: “I feel a tremendous sense, a profound sense of sympathy for those people, those women, who suffer as a result of his behaviour and his illegal criminal activities.

“I regret very, very deeply indeed, carrying on that association with him for far longer than I should have done,” he added.

He said that he felt he had been ‘conned’ by Epstein, saying, “I regret very much that I fell for his lies, I fell for and accepted assurances that he had given me about his indictment.

“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 in is a charismatic criminal liar.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insisted he still has confidence in Mandelson amid the furore.

Meanwhile, Labour MPs Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who is standing for the deputy leadership, and Kim Johnson both broke ranks to call for Lord Mandelson to go following fresh revelations against the US ambassador.

It comes after a US congressional panel released a redacted copy of an alleged "birthday book" given to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, celebrating his fiftieth birthday.

The book also includes messages from Epstein's "friends", in which Lord Mandelson, the British ambassador to the US, describes the sex offender as "my best pal".

Epstein's birthday book has been made public following a legal summons to the paedophile's estate to hand over a number of documents to the House Oversight Committee in the US.

He also told The Sun he was bracing himself for more 'embarrassing' revelations.

He said: "We know they're going to come out.

"We know they're going to be very embarrassing, and they know that I'm going to profoundly regret ever having met him and been introduced to him in the first place.”

From the 238-page book, titled The First Fifty Years, Lord Mandelson's birthday message to Epstein reads: "Once upon a time, an intelligent, sharp-witted man they call '(illegible)' parachuted into my life.

"You would spend many hours just waiting for him to turn up.

"And often, no sooner were you getting used to having him around, you would suddenly be alone ... again."

Lord Mandelson's message then goes on to show 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."

His message continued: "Or just some dogs to keep you company (he wasn't always so keen on them).

"But then he would parachute back in - very occasionally, taking you by surprise in some far off places.

"Or in one of his glorious homes he likes to share with his friends (yum yum).

"But, wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal."

In response to Lord Mandelson's letter being published, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told LBC: "I think the ambassador has been clear that he regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein."