Always such a risk to back a fallen star

THERE are scandals in politics that arrive like a bomb, and then there are those that creep up slowly, stinking the place out long before anyone pretends to notice.

- JJ Anisiobi

Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein fall firmly into the latter category.

Let’s be absolutely clear — Peter Mandelson knew exactly who Jeffrey Epstein was and what he was. Epstein wasn’t some mysterious billionaire whose past only later came to light. He was a convicted paedophile. That was a public record, and yet Mandelson still chose to remain in his orbit, because Epstein offered what really mattered to him: money, access, influence and entry into the murkiest, most powerful circles on the planet.