In the end, it has been a scandal too far, even for Peter Mandelson.
The latest explosive revelations linked to Jeffrey Epstein first prompted Mandelson to resign from the Labour Party, a move he claimed was intended to spare it “further embarrassment”. But embarrassment was only the beginning.
The far more serious allegations—that Mandelson leaked highly confidential and market-sensitive government information to Epstein while serving as business secretary under Gordon Brown – pushed the affair into a different and far darker territory. These claims led to calls for a police investigation into possible misconduct in public office, allegations that the Metropolitan Police has confirmed it is reviewing. Allies of Mr Brown described the episode as a “betrayal of trust”, while MPs from across the Commons accused Mandelson of behaviour bordering on treachery.
When the prime minister reportedly told the cabinet that Mandelson had “let the country down” and should no longer sit in the House of Lords or continue to use his title, the disgraced former peer finally conceded defeat. Writing to the Lord Speaker, Lord Michael Forsyth, Mandelson announced his “intention to retire” from the Lords.
That chapter is now closed. There is no route back. And retirement, however ignominious, should not be mistaken for justice. If the allegations are substantiated, Mandelson could still face prosecution and potentially imprisonment in the UK. Nor should scrutiny stop at Britain’s borders: if American authorities determine that US laws were breached, the net must widen accordingly.
Resignation is not accountability. It is evasion dressed up as dignity.
A career undone by old temptations
It is difficult to imagine what could be more humiliating than the disclosures surrounding Epstein: reported payments to Mandelson’s then partner, lobbying a Labour chancellor on tax matters, and photographs that reinforce the sense of reckless intimacy with a convicted sex offender. For a man who once sat at the pinnacle of British power, the fall has been brutal.
Mandelson’s career was always a study in contradiction. Born into Labour royalty – his grandfather was Herbert Morrison, a titan of Attlee’s post-war government—he dedicated his life to the party while simultaneously cultivating the rich, the powerful and the infamous. His famous declaration to tech executives in 1998 that Labour was “intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich” captured both the New Labour project and its moral fragility.
That attraction to wealth and influence ultimately proved fatal.
This final collapse comes only months after Sir Keir Starmer was forced to remove Mandelson from his role as UK ambassador to the United States, following mounting concern over his past association with Epstein. The Washington appointment had already been criticised as cronyism; its abrupt end confirmed those fears.
A pattern, not an aberration
To treat the Epstein affair as an isolated lapse is to ignore history. Mandelson twice resigned from Tony Blair’s cabinet: first over an undeclared loan, then over his intervention in a passport application for a wealthy businessman. Later controversies followed him through Brussels, where he served as EU trade commissioner amid questions over luxury holidays, yachts, private jets and oligarch connections – all deemed “above board” at the time, yet cumulatively corrosive.
Again and again, Mandelson survived on technicalities, internal inquiries and political forgiveness. Each time, he returned stronger, more insulated, more untouchable.
Until now.
Retirement is not enough
Mandelson’s decision to retire from the Lords may draw a line under his political career, but it does nothing to answer the central question: did a senior British minister abuse his office, breach the public trust, and share protected information with a man who should never have been anywhere near the corridors of power?
If the answer may be yes, then resignation is wholly inadequate.
The rule of law demands more than reputational consequences for the powerful. It demands investigation, transparency and, where the evidence supports it, prosecution – regardless of titles, connections or past service.
And Mandelson is not alone. The Epstein network thrived precisely because too many influential figures believed themselves immune from consequence. That culture of impunity must end. If laws were broken in Britain, prosecutions should follow. If offences cross US jurisdictions, American authorities must act as well.
History will not judge this moment by whether Peter Mandelson quietly slipped away from the House of Lords. It will judge whether the political class finally accepted that no one – not even a prince of darkness – is above the law.
For Mandelson, it is over.
For accountability, it must only be the beginning.
