Disgraced Peter Mandelson breaks cover for first time since fresh Epstein revelations

The disgraced former Labour peer Peter Mandelson has been seen in public for the first time since fresh claims emerged of his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The former UK ambassador to the United States was seen leaving his London home and getting into a car on Saturday.

It is the first time Lord Mandelson has been spotted in public since the latest tranche of Epstein files revealed the depths of his alleged links to Epstein.

The claims sent the government into meltdown and forced Lord Mandelson to step down from the House of Lords. It also prompted calls for Sir Keir Starmer to be replaced as prime minister.

It comes days after Lord Mandelson was asked to give evidence to the US Congress over his relationship with the paedophile financier.

A letter to Lord Mandelson, signed by representatives Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyam, said it was clear he had “extensive social and business ties to Jeffrey Epstein” and holds “critical information” relevant to Congress’s investigations into Epstein’s operations.

The letter also said: “Numerous pieces of evidence have come to light demonstrating your close ties to Jeffrey Epstein over the span of multiple years.”

Among the evidence, it listed Lord Mandelson’s “handwritten note” in a 50th birthday book for Epstein in which he described the late financier as his “best pal”.

It also pointed to the peer’s stay at the financier’s New York apartment in 2009, while Epstein was serving an 18-month sentence for soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor, as well as photographs of Lord Mandelson in his underwear in the latest US Department of Justice release.

Lord Mandelson was given a deadline of February 27 to respond to the two US politicians’ letter “due to the urgency and gravity of this matter”.

The former cabinet minister has resigned from the Labour Party and quit the House of Lords since the latest tranche of Epstein files was released in the US.

Among the revelations to emerge were documents from 2009 that appeared to show Lord Mandelson, when he was business secretary, sharing sensitive information with Epstein on at least four occasions.

In the wake of the criticism over Lord Mandelson’s appointment, the government has seen several advisors to the PM quit, including chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, communications director Tim Allan and cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald.