Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty announced in the House of Commons on Thursday that the decision followed the release of emails Mandelson sent to Epstein.
“Given the additional insights from emails authored by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has instructed the foreign secretary to revoke his position as ambassador,” stated the Foreign Office.
“The emails reveal that the scope and nature of Peter Mandelson’s association with Jeffrey Epstein is considerably more significant than was known during his appointment,” it continued.
On Wednesday, The Sun newspaper presented emails indicating that Mandelson urged Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before Epstein’s 18-month prison sentence.
“I think the world of you,” Mandelson told him before he began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
The emails surfaced following the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee unveiling a 50th birthday album compiled in 2003 for Epstein, who was then a prominent and influential financier. In that album, Mandelson referred to Epstein as “my best pal” in a handwritten message.
