The family of Virginia Giuffre, who became the most prominent victim of Jeffrey Epstein, has told the that Lord Mandelson should never have been given the position of UK ambassador to the United States.
In an exclusive interview on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts said the appointment “speaks to how deep the corruption goes in our systems”.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle told the it was “highly unlikely” Lord Mandelson would have been appointed if the extent of his relationship with Epstein was known to those in government.
There is no suggestion that Lord Mandelson ever met Giuffre. He said last week, that “perhaps as a gay man”, he never sought or was offered introductions to women from Epstein.
Lord Mandelson was sacked by the prime minister this week, after the publication of emails showed the Labour peer sent supportive messages to Epstein as he faced jail for sex offences in 2008.
Speaking on the programme, Kyle said it was “extremely distressing” to watch the interview with Giuffre’s family.
He said at the time Mandelson was appointed, the UK-US relationship was in a “perilous state” and Britain “needed somebody with outstanding, singular talents”.
Kyle said a lot was known about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein during the vetting process and on balance, the decision was taken to appoint him.
When asked if the appointment was a mistake, Kyle said: “They [Giuffre’s family] say it was a mistake.
“And retrospectively, if we had known the information that we know now, it is highly unlikely that he would have been appointed because what we know now is materially different to what we understood at the time.”
Giuffre alleged that she was abused by Epstein after she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite, in 2000 while working as a locker room attendant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.
In 2001, at the age of 17, she said Epstein brought her to London and introduced her to Prince Andrew, who she claimed sexually abused her three times. The prince, who has denied all claims against him, reached an out-of-court settlement with her in 2022 which contained no admission of liability or apology.
After many years of campaigning, she had become the most prominent victim of Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre took her own life in April.
Giuffre’s sister-in-law, Amanda Roberts, told the , “why does it take us to have to pull out the skeletons for people to be held accountable? Our governments have allowed these people to hold their status and their title without shame”.
“He should never have been given that title. We have to put the spotlight on them. It’s unfair we continuously pull these skeletons out, that survivors have to continuously point the finger for us to do the right thing”.
Neither Downing Street nor Lord Mandelson wished to comment.
Lord Mandelson’s sacking came after a cache of emails between the Labour peer and Epstein was published by Bloomberg.
In the emails, the peer urged Epstein to fight for early release, and revealed the extent of their contacts and relationship.
Lord Mandelson told the he relied on assurances of Epstein’s innocence “that turned out later to be horrendously false” and has repeatedly expressed regret about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender.
Sir Keir decided to sack Lord Mandelson after reviewing those emails on Wednesday night, having expressed confidence in the Labour peer at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier that day.
Kyle told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the emails revealed a “material difference” in what was known at the time of the appointment.
But a senior Whitehall figure told the it would have been possible for the government to locate those messages had more questions been asked, and forensic background digging been done.
The has also been told Sir Keir explicitly asked Lord Mandelson about his links to Epstein before deciding to appoint him.
The questions came after initial vetting of the Labour peer flagged his relationship with Epstein.
The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats have said those in government still had questions to answer about what they knew about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein prior to his appointment.
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said the Conservatives would “use every mechanism that is available to us to force the truth to come out”.
She asked: “How have we ended up in a situation where the advice for the prime minister is to appoint the ‘best pal’ of a convicted paedophile to be US ambassador?”
The Lib Dems are also calling for an independent inquiry into what was known about Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein at the time of his appointment.
Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said Lord Mandelson “should never have been appointed” because his links to Epstein were known.
She said the prime minister had to do “a lot of proving to the public to show he’s up to the job”, adding Labour would be “judged” at next year’s local elections.
Mr Roberts, Giuffre’s younger brother, said that the firing of Mandelson was a “step in the right direction” but “the reality is that’s not nearly enough”.
Referencing Jeffrey Epstein’s birthday book, to which Lord Mandelson contributed several pages along with dozens of other contributors he added, “there are still people out there, still people in that book who could be doing this to other young women and children right now.”
Entries from 40 people, divided into several categories such as “friends”, “business”, “science” and “Brooklyn”, were published, though the names under “family” and “girl friends” were redacted.
These people are not accused of any legal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s case.
The family’s first UK interview was broadcast on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. As well as Lord Mandelson they discuss Epstein, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, and their hope for Virginia’s legacy.
