By Niall Dooris
The fallout from the latest release of “Epstein Files” has rocked many global elites with close connections to the world’s most notorious sex trafficker and child abuser (for more detail on the scale of this, see our recent article on the topic). In Britain, it now threatens to topple Keir Starmer and the Labour Government due to his appointment of “Lord” Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the US.
Further exposure of Mandelson’s close personal relationship with Epstein, even after his conviction for child abuse, has forced the Labour Government to sack him. He is now under investigation by the Metropolitan Police for Misconduct in Public Office, with his two mansions being searched. This is a charge that could lead to life in prison.
Elite complicity
More importantly, Mandelson and those around him seem to be facing no real consequences for their support and facilitation of abuse. He knew of Epstein’s crimes and continued to associate with him long after his 2008 conviction for child sexual abuse. In an email, Mandelson expresses his sympathy after his conviction, saying he should “fight for early release” and “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened… It just could not happen in Britain”. Even more disgustingly, the most recent leaks show he recommended a villa to Epstein, where he would have “privacy with accompanying rooms for your ‘guests’” (the quotation marks around “guests” are Mandelson’s).
It would be an insult to the reader to suggest that this is anything other than him acknowledging and assisting Epstein’s crimes. What the public will be most angry about is his involvement with a prolific abuser, and that Mandelson’s association with Epstein had been public knowledge for years. No matter what they say, Starmer, his cabinet, and advisors knew this and didn’t care.
Heavy criticism should be made of the British media on this issue. In recent years, Mandelson had a full-time job on Times Radio and made several appearances on mainstream platforms, such as the BBC, where he was never questioned about his shameful connections to Epstein. Now the same organisations are feigning surprise about it. The lack of journalistic integrity is astounding, just so they could hold onto the connections and access that figures like Mandelson provide. This is a familiar pattern of treatment towards abusers within the British establishment, most recently the protection of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor by the Royal Family and others, despite his crimes and his associations with Epstein being common knowledge.
In Westminster itself, abuse is rife. In 2022, it was reported that 56 MPs were facing allegations of sexual misconduct. Labour MP Dan Norris was arrested last year and has since been charged with a litany of abuse charges, including against children. This follows a long list of similar events, and are only the ones we know about; it is normalised and accepted at the height of society. At the end of the day, the British ruling class will protect one of their own first, until it becomes untenable for them to do so.
Labour Government Teetering
The revelations relevant to his criminal charges are that, while he was Business Secretary, Mandelson leaked sensitive market information to Epstein four times in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. As a financier, this was of huge value to him. This included details of the £500 billion bailout to banks during the 2010 Eurozone crisis and an advisory that JP Morgan should threaten the Government to prevent a crackdown on bankers’ bonuses. In return, Mandelson received around £21,000 pounds from Epstein. Less directly, Mandelson was making connections with the big banks and with Epstein, with whom he later made millions after leaving government in 2010.
Mandelson has been a central figure on the Labour right for decades and was one of the architects of New Labour. Since the Blair years, he has been commonly known in Westminster as “the prince of darkness” for his ruthlessness and lack of moral scruples. Prior to the current scandal, he had to resign twice, in 1998 and 2001, due to accusations of corruption. In both cases, he was again attempting to do the bidding of his cronies in big business.
Despite this, he is fawned over like a saint by many in the current government. He has been omnipresent on the Labour right and is, as a result, heavily connected to most current senior figures. He mentored Starmer’s Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney, who has now been forced to resign, along with the Director of Communications, Tim Allan. Anas Sawar, the Scottish Labour Leader, has called for Starmer to resign. In response, most senior Labour figures have rallied around Starmer, calling for stability. This includes the people most likely to replace him, such as Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner, and Andy Burnham. This is probably because they have no ground to stand on, as they are tainted themselves with some association to Mandelson. They also recognise that the leadership is a poison chalice as things stand.
A discredited establishment
Starmer is the most unpopular British Prime Minister in recorded history, which is a tall feat. The irony is that he ran on a platform of competence and the “Adults being back in the room”, yet has been marred in more serious scandals than even the buffoonish Boris Johnson. Labour will likely be smashed in the by-election in Gorton and Denton later this month, adding even more pressure. If he limps through the next few weeks and months, Labour will then face electoral oblivion in the May local elections, where they could lose up to 1,000 councillors. It is unlikely his tenure will survive that. Labour’s politics provide no way out of the crisis that Britain is in, so its successor will inevitably be marred by the same problems and unpopularity.
The Epstein revelations are a rare window into the dirty dealings of the ruling class. The scale of abuse and corruption is unfortunately not abnormal; what is unusual is the fact that we have found out about it. Capitalism empowers the rich and powerful to exploit and abuse the vulnerable as they please. To those in power, that is a fact of life. We do not have to stand for this; a humane and socialist world free from toxic power relations is both possible and necessary.
