I'm Mandy - fly me
TetleysTLDR: The Summary
Peter Mandelson,the slick-selling Blairite spinner, has long been a staunch Atlanticist and pro-Israel figure, crafting New Labour’s message machine and trade posture. But fresh revelations have reframed his legacy. This week, a 2003 “birthday book” for Jeffrey Epstein—released by the U.S. House Oversight Committee—revealed Mandelson called Epstein “my best pal” in handwritten notes and included a bathrobe photo of the two together The Guardian TheTimes.
The book was compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell, who had documented intelligence links Wikipedia The Guardian.
Of course we now know that Epstein’s homes were wired with cameras, tradecraft that enabled kompromat The Guardian Wikipedia.
But we mustn't let Mandelson’s image as a spin guru obscure the real truth. This isn’t just ideology or diplomacy. It looks like compromise disguised as power, and as history looks back, that’s not a legacy. It’s a liability.
TetleysTLDR: The article
Peter Mandelson has always been a creature of power. The slick salesman of Blairism, slimier than Bryan Ferry in a lard chucking competition. The dark spinner in velvet gloves, the backroom fixer who taught Labour how to grovel at the feet of finance. But his devotion to Israel has always stood out, bordering on the fanatical.
Even by the standards of New Labour’s Atlanticist poodle act, Mandelson went further. The question is: why?
The convenient answer is ideology. Blair, Brown, Mandelson, Campbell: all of them swallowed the Washington consensus whole, and with it came lockstep loyalty to Israel. But after this week’s document dump, the Epstein 'birthday book' and the photos that came with it, that story suddenly looks a lot, well, thinner.
According to newly released files, Mandelson called Jeffrey Epstein his 'best pal' in a handwritten note for Epstein’s 50th birthday, in 2003, compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell The Guardian. There’s also a photograph of Mandelson in a bathrobe with Epstein The Times The Guardian. None of this proves coercion, but kompromat isn't always about proof; it's about suspicion. In politics, the appearance of compromise can be just as corrosive as the fact of it.
Here’s why that matters. Epstein’s homes were riddled with cameras, court testimony and FBI evidence show The Guardian Wikipedia. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s social fixer and the daughter of Robert Maxwell, whose own links to Mossad are well-documented, assembled that book The Guardian Wikipedia. If Epstein’s network was harvesting leverage on the powerful, Mandelson was smack in the crosshairs.
To be clear: there is no hard evidence that Mandelson was ever blackmailed, or that Israel or any other intelligence service held material on him. But intelligence tradecraft doesn’t always require a smoking gun, the possibility is sometimes enough. That's kind of the whole point of spying. A politician in Mandelson’s position would know that being photographed in Epstein’s world could be compromising in itself. Intelligence tradecraft isn’t about smoking guns; sometimes a photo in a bathrobe, with the “best pal” scrawl, is enough to keep a loyal foot soldier on message.
Israels useful idiot
Look at Mandelson’s record. A stalwart backer of Labour Friends of Israel since the 1990s Wikipedia. As EU Trade Commissioner, he faced criticism for how soft he was on Israeli trade interests amid settlement expansion Wikipedia. On home soil, he’s kept a consistently pro-Israel line, even as public sentiment hardened over Gaza. To critics, it doesn’t look like diplomacy, it looks like zealotry.
Is this just ideology? Perhaps. Mandelson has always been a consummate Atlanticist, wedded to US and Israeli interests as part of his broader political project. But when you put that together with his social intimacy with Epstein and Maxwell, and the well-documented presence of surveillance equipment in Epstein’s residences, it inevitably raises uncomfortable questions.
The Iraq War
The relationship between Epstein and Mandelson, whatever it was based on may have had significant cause and effect on Israeli interference in British foreign policy. In particular on the Iraq war that Blair took the UK into in 2003, the year of Epstein's 50th birthday, when Maxwell produced the 'birthday book' for Mandelson's 'best pal'.
There has long been speculation about the shadowy networks of influence behind Britain’s alignment with Bush’s Iraq adventure, and one rarely discussed but well evidenced thread is the connection between Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson. Mandelson, then a senior New Labour figure and key architect of Tony Blair’s Atlanticist positioning, was known to have moved in Epstein’s social circles, reportedly being in contact with him on multiple occasions, including calls from Epstein’s private address book. The Guardian
Benjamin Netanyahu played an active role in cheerleading George W Bush into the second Iraq war. In September 2002, as the US Congress was debating authorising the invasion, Netanyahu testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, declaring with absolute certainty: “There is no question whatsoever that Saddam is seeking, is working, is advancing towards the development of nuclear weapons. … If you take out Saddam … I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region” . Vox
He dismissed arguments that Saddam could be contained, claiming Iraq was only 'one to two years' away from building nuclear weapons. These assurances mirrored the Bush administration’s talking points, but were demonstrably false. As later confirmed by the Iraq Survey Group and the CIA’s Comprehensive Report on Iraq WMD (2004), Saddam had dismantled his WMD programmes in the 1990s. Netanyahu’s testimony fed directly into the neoconservative drive for war, offering a veneer of regional expertise that bolstered Bush’s case to Congress and the American public.
Epstein’s ties to powerful US and British elites gave him a role as a fixer, and Mandelson, often described as Blair’s gatekeeper to Washington, was central in selling the war domestically. While there is no smoking gun proving Epstein personally engineered Britain’s support, the relationship symbolises the murky nexus of finance, lobbying, and elite social networks that underpinned New Labour’s enthusiastic alignment with Bush. In effect, Mandelson’s association with Epstein highlights how Britain’s entry into Iraq was less about democratic mandate or evidence, and more about a closed circuit of wealthy, well-connected men smoothing the path for a catastrophic war. Even today the Government is blocking investigations into relationship The Telegraph
If, as many have argued, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were running a Mossad kompromat operation on the wealthy and politically connected, and if Israel’s strategic objective was the removal of Iraq: then Peter Mandelson, whether through coercion or simple alignment of interests, would have served as a direct channel feeding that agenda into Downing Street.
In that light, the infamous lie of 'weapons of mass destruction' that dragged Britain into the second Iraq war may not have been conceived on Epstein’s island, but the machinery that made it politically viable was certainly oiled there. Mandelson’s role as Blair’s fixer and gatekeeper meant he was perfectly placed to smooth the path towards war, a war that would ultimately lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, the destruction of a nation, and the further destabilisation of the Middle East. All things that favoured Netanyahu at other nations expense. Including ours.
In this way, from Tel Aviv through Epstein’s island and its web of child abuse, and via Mandelson’s access to the heart of New Labour, there runs a direct line from Netanyahu’s office to the deaths of 179 British troops in a war Britain should never have been dragged into in the first place.
At the very least, Mandelson hasn't been as clever as he clearly thinks he is. He's put himself in situations where kompromat could have been gathered. That is political malpractice of the highest order. A senior statesman owes the public a clean slate; instead, Mandelson’s judgement left him open to suspicion. And the fact that this same man is still treated by the Labour right as an elder statesman, a guru of modern politics, is an insult to anyone with a memory longer than five minutes.
So let’s stop pretending Mandelson’s slavish pro-Israel politics are just the by-product of his 'Third Way' genius. They’re the politics of someone who has always been willing to be useful . Useful to finance, useful to Washington, and as we saw with a Corbyn that Israel worked very hard to destroy, very useful to Tel Aviv. It's not hard to summise that he strutted around as the great architect of New Labour while quietly serving as a brick in somebody else’s wall.
- Epstein 'birthday book' The U.S. House Oversight Committee released a 2003 album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday, featuring handwritten notes, including Mandelson calling him “my best pal” The Guardian.
- Photo of Mandelson in a bathrobe Included in that same album was a photo of Mandelson in a bathrobe with Epstein The Times The Guardian.
- Surveillance tradecraft The book was assembled by Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell, whose intelligence links have been long discussed Wikipedia The Guardian. Epstein’s residences were extensively wired, per revelations and court testimony The Guardian Wikipedia.
- Maxwell’s family background Ghislaine Maxwell is the daughter of Robert Maxwell, known for his intelligence contacts Wikipedia The Guardian.
- Labour Friends of Israel record & trade criticism Mandelson’s long-standing support for LFI and criticisms during his EU Trade Commissioner tenure are noted in his biography Wikipedia.
- Pro-Israel consistency His staunch pro-Israel stance is documented in his political record, especially during his trade commissioner years and overarching Atlanticist posture Wikipedia.
Mandelson wasn't called the Prince of Darkness for nothing. He was and is a duplicitous, devious little shit that amongst other things worked steadfastly behind the scenes to destablise the elected Corbyn led Labour Party. In February 2017, Mandelson said at a Jewish Chronicle event that he was “working every single day” to bring forward the end of Corbyn’s leadership. He described sending emails, making phone calls, and arranging meetings as part of those efforts. The Guardian
If you really want to grasp the measure of the man, look no further than his cosy ties with Russian oligarchs and his revolving door career of lobbying and lucrative consultancies
- Oleg Deripaska / Rusal In 2008, as EU Trade Commissioner, Mandelson met privately with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and came under fire for decisions that benefited Deripaska’s United Company Rusal. Critics alleged a conflict of interest, though Mandelson denied wrongdoing and the government backed him Wikipedia.
- Lobbying and consultancy After leaving government, Mandelson co-founded Global Counsel, which has represented interests ranging from TikTok to Shell. His opaque business dealings have drawn scrutiny, particularly for possible ties to China in the run-up to the Labour win Wikipedia.
The whispers about Mandelson around Westminster were never whispers at all, they were an open secret. Everyone knew what kind of man he was, and what circles he moved in. For Starmer to haul him back into frontline diplomacy in 2024 wasn’t just a lapse in judgement, it was sheer arrogance, a decision so staggeringly tone-deaf it reeks of contempt for the public. And as the Epstein web continues to come apart, the danger is clear: more dirt will surface, and Starmer will own every last smear of it.
Mandelson is still trying to squirm his way out of complicity. He' s now gone into damage limitation mode and is claiming he regretted his relationship with Epstein. He also claimed that as a gay man was blinded to Epsteins criminal behaviour. This is beyond contemptuous and laughable - was he not aware of any parties where there were scantily clad young girls? Was he not aware of what Epstein was doing at all? Even if he had no interest he still had eyes. The Independent
Even if this was the case, if Mandelson was as savvy as he thought, why then would he have continued the friendship after the conviction and even petitioned for an early release for Epstein?
Lord Mandelson went on to say that “perhaps because I am a gay man”, he may have been blinded to Epstein’s criminal behaviour.
When the history books are written, Mandelson won’t be remembered as some brilliant 'prince of spin' or Brussels’ silver-tongued insider. He’ll be remembered as he looks now: sleazy, compromised, and radioactive. A man who should have been left rotting on the back benches, but instead was dragged back into power by a Prime Minister too blind or too cynical to care.
And if and when Mandelson finally falls, he will not be missed. He wasn't particularly liked in Westminster and he was certainly not like by the public, who never trusted him. Not by the Labour grassroots, who watched him wage war on their hopes and their leaders. Not by the families of the 179 British soldiers sent to die in Iraq on the back of lies he helped launder. Not by the Iraqis whose lives were destroyed in a war he greased the wheels for. Not by the countless young women chewed up and spat out by Epstein’s machine of abuse, which his circles of power helped shield from scrutiny. And certainly not by the people of Hartlepool, who always thought he was a bit dodgy and never forgave him for parachuting into their town as if it were his personal fiefdom.
History will not record him as a master strategist or a prince of spin. It will record him as he truly was: sleazy, compromised, and toxic. A fixer for predators and warmongers, a man whose every move left Britain dirtier and more corrupt. When he finally goes down, it won’t be with respect, it will be with relief, and with the bitter truth that his reckoning came decades too late.
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