Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander calls on Peter Mandelson to repay £75,000 to Epstein victims
The disgraced peer is under pressure to repay his £75,000 pay-out after he was sacked as UK ambassador
Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander has called on Peter Mandelson to pay back the £75,000 he received for being sacked as US ambassador due to his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Alexander, who also served in Cabinet in the Blair and Brown Labour governments, has publicly called on Lord Mandelson to hand back the public pay-out to the victims of Epstein’s abuse or charities working to support survivors of sexual exploitation.
Details of the payment came to light in files released by the UK government, which also revealed Prime Minister Keir Starmer was warned of a “general reputational risk” ahead of him appointing Lord Mandelson due to his known relationship with the sex offender.
Lord Mandelson was appointed as ambassador in December 2024 but was sacked in September 2025 after further details emerged about the extent of his contact with the sex offender, who was first convicted of procuring an underage girl in 2008.
Their relationship lasted several years and Lord Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein’s house in June 2009, while he was in jail, the newly-released documents show.
The documents show Lord Mandelson received the £75,000 payment after originally asking the UK Treasury to give him £547,201 - the remainder of his four-year salary.
Asked by journalists in Paisley if Lord Mandelson should repay the £75,000, Mr Alexander said: “In terms of should he pay the money back, yes I would urge him to do so - whether that’s to charities or to others working in the area of the exploitation of women.
“We need to recognise that the primary victims in this instance are the people who were most betrayed - the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.”
UK minister for defence readiness and industry, Luke Pollard, told journalists that Lord Mandelson had no involvement in controversial defence and NHS contracts awarded to Palintir after lobbying from the disgraced peer’s firm, Global Counsel.
Mr Pollard said: “In relation to Palintir, we’ve been very clear on this.
“The Defence Secretary made the decision to create the agreement with Palintir - he made that decision by himself in relation to that.
“We’re participating fully in the release of documentation as required by parliament.”
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