London, Feb 2 (UNI) Lord Peter Mandelson, former UK cabinet minister and former ambassador to the United States, has resigned from the ruling Labour Party after fresh revelations emerged about his past links with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to British media reports.
Mandelson, who had stepped down as Britain’s envoy in Washington last year following the surfacing of emails detailing his associations with Epstein, said he decided to quit the party to avoid causing further embarrassment to the Labour government.
“I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this,” Mandelson wrote in a letter to Labour’s general secretary, excerpts of which were quoted by the media.
According to documents cited in the reports, Epstein made payments totalling $75,000 to Lord Mandelson through three separate transactions of $25,000 each in 2003.
Labour party sources said the move was intended to contain political fallout from the controversy.
