WEBVTT - SPECIAL REPORT: Inside the Scoop that Brought Down Mandelson

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.

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<v Speaker 2>Mister Speakers, the relationship between the US and the UK

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<v Speaker 2>is one of our foremost relationships, and I have confidence

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<v Speaker 2>in the ambassador in the role that he is doing.

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<v Speaker 3>That was Prime Minister's questions on Wednesday, with Kirs Starmer

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<v Speaker 3>defending Peter Mandelssohn, the UK's ambassador to the US. By Thursday,

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<v Speaker 3>we heard this from the Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doherty.

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<v Speaker 4>The emails show mister Speaker that the depth and extent

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<v Speaker 4>of Lord Mallison's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different

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<v Speaker 4>from that known at the time of his appointment.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, those emails published by Bloomberg are deeply revealing of

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<v Speaker 3>Mandelsohn's relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Today, we're bringing

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<v Speaker 3>you the inside story of that scoop and asking what

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<v Speaker 3>it means for Kirs Starmer and the labor government. Hello,

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<v Speaker 3>you're listening to a special episode of the Bloomberg Daybreak

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<v Speaker 3>you at podcast. I'm Caroline and.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Stephen Carroll. Now, this story starts with some eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>thousand emails from Jeffrey Epstein's personal Yahoo account, which were

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<v Speaker 1>seen by Bloomberg, including many exchanges with Peter Mandelsson, who

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<v Speaker 1>was at the time the EU's Trade Commissioner and was

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<v Speaker 1>until yesterday, the UK's ambassador to the United States. The

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<v Speaker 1>messages show a close personal relationship with the disgraced financier

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<v Speaker 1>and exchanges at key moments in the months before he

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<v Speaker 1>was imprisoned in mid two thousand and eight. They provoked

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<v Speaker 1>a chain of events which led to Mandlson's removal from

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<v Speaker 1>his position at a key moment just days from Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump's visit to the UK.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, if you recall, Stephen Peter Mandleson was appointed as

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<v Speaker 3>Britain's ambassador to Washington in February. His ties to Epstein

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<v Speaker 3>were known then, but Lord Mandleson had previously denied that

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<v Speaker 3>they were extensive. However, the emails uncovered by Bloomberg reveal

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<v Speaker 3>something different, and that the day before Jeffrey Epstein reported

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<v Speaker 3>to a Florida jail this is in June two thousand

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<v Speaker 3>and eight, to begin serving time for soliciting sex from

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<v Speaker 3>a minor. He received an outraged message from Peter Mandelsson

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<v Speaker 3>which included the following quotes, I think the world of

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<v Speaker 3>view and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened.

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<v Speaker 3>I can still barely understand it. It just could not

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<v Speaker 3>happen in Britain. And lastly, your friends stay with you

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<v Speaker 3>and love you. Those words and others contained in the

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<v Speaker 3>emails mean that Kirs Starman and his advisors now face

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<v Speaker 3>growing questions and anger about why Lord Mandelsson was chosen

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<v Speaker 3>for this most important of diplomatic roles.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, this story was a political bombshell in Westminster, so

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<v Speaker 1>that we wanted to talk more about how it came about.

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<v Speaker 1>For that were joined by our finance reporter Harry Wilson,

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<v Speaker 1>who reported on those emails, and by our political correspondent

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<v Speaker 1>Ellen Melligan as well. Harry, I wanted to start with

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<v Speaker 1>you and I suppose how this story got started, and

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<v Speaker 1>I suppose what you thought when you first saw the

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<v Speaker 1>contents of these emails.

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<v Speaker 2>I still remember looking at that email. I mean, it

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<v Speaker 2>was among the first that I found, and it was

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<v Speaker 2>really just as soon as you read it, it was

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<v Speaker 2>just I kind of thought, if you've been a Hollywood

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<v Speaker 2>scriptwriter imagining like what someone might say inadvisedly to a

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<v Speaker 2>convicted pedophile just before they go to jail, I don't

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<v Speaker 2>think you'd have come up with words quite as dramatic

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<v Speaker 2>as what Lord Manderson had sent. And it was just

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<v Speaker 2>I think the overwhelming sense of the closeness between the

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<v Speaker 2>two of them, that you know, this was more than

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<v Speaker 2>just an association as I think Lord Manderson has described

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<v Speaker 2>it in recent days and weeks. This was a seemed

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<v Speaker 2>like a deeply personal friendship the two of them had.

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<v Speaker 3>What were the sentences and was that stood out for you?

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, this is a huge volume of emails that

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<v Speaker 3>you went through. You also sent a long request for

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<v Speaker 3>comment to Peter Mandelson regarding this cash of emails and

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<v Speaker 3>what the contents of it was what stood out to

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<v Speaker 3>you also as you kind of waded through them all.

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<v Speaker 2>There's a whole bunch of us who've been working on this,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think, to be honest, amongst all of us,

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<v Speaker 2>just as we went through the emails, we got this

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<v Speaker 2>kind of sense of I guess how you might describe

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<v Speaker 2>it as some kind of quasied lobbying campaign that Lord

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<v Speaker 2>Anderson had been on for Epstein in the months before

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<v Speaker 2>he went to jail. It was it's kind of like

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<v Speaker 2>you sort of imagine, you know, if you had a

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<v Speaker 2>friend in peril and he's there sort of almost every week,

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<v Speaker 2>checking in with Epstein, making sure he's okay, trying to

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<v Speaker 2>kind of find ways of putting potentially in touch with

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<v Speaker 2>people who might be able to help him. It's more

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<v Speaker 2>than just I guess, a sense of being a moral support.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a sense that there's an active level of support there,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think that's what really kind of, I guess

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<v Speaker 2>surprised us. And then when you see what he actually

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<v Speaker 2>sends just the day before Epstein actually goes to it's

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<v Speaker 2>really the culmination of a whole months long, I guess

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<v Speaker 2>even years long thing in which Mandelsson has been all

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<v Speaker 2>the way through this kind of support for Epstein to

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<v Speaker 2>an extraordinary degree.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, that expression, I think the world of view

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<v Speaker 1>in that email, as you say, the day before Jeffrey

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<v Speaker 1>Epstein went to jail, certainly stands out. Talk to us

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<v Speaker 1>about the exchanges that you and the team had with

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<v Speaker 1>Peter Mandleson before this story was published.

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<v Speaker 2>So the first he learned of our story would have

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<v Speaker 2>been on Monday afternoon. We sent her an email to

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<v Speaker 2>him at three thirty six in the afternoon on Monday.

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<v Speaker 2>It was a very long email. It was nearly two

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<v Speaker 2>thousand words long. It contained all the emails that we

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<v Speaker 2>were planning to report in full, with the dates of

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<v Speaker 2>when they were sent. We explained to him which email

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<v Speaker 2>account the emails have been sent from and two and

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<v Speaker 2>we then listed about twenty questions to him, just setting

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<v Speaker 2>out all the sort of different things that we felt

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<v Speaker 2>the emails raised as issues with him and asking him

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<v Speaker 2>for comment. And at that point we had planned, you

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<v Speaker 2>know it, there was a lot of stuff there, and

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<v Speaker 2>in fairness to him, we felt that he should have

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<v Speaker 2>a decent amount of times respond so we gave him

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<v Speaker 2>til essentially the end of the week to come back

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<v Speaker 2>to us. But then I guess events kind of moved

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<v Speaker 2>pretty fast. You had the US Congressional Committee come out

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<v Speaker 2>later that day with the birthday book, and in there

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<v Speaker 2>there was this ten page I guess, how would you

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<v Speaker 2>describe it, like a glowing tribute that Mandelson gave to

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<v Speaker 2>Epstein in two thousand and three for this extraordinary birthday book,

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<v Speaker 2>And that really sort of then from there the sort

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<v Speaker 2>of pressure started growing on Manderson, and I think at

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<v Speaker 2>that point we were starting to think to ourselves, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we're being overtaken by events here, and particularly then on Tuesday,

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<v Speaker 2>there was this growing chorus I think around Lord Mandelsson

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<v Speaker 2>in his role as ambassador was it viable. So we

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<v Speaker 2>decided then to bring forward actually our deadline for his

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<v Speaker 2>response to the next day, and then Wednesday morning was

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<v Speaker 2>suddenly out of the blue came this interview that Lord

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<v Speaker 2>Mandelsson gave to The Sun in which he started talking about,

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<v Speaker 2>obviously the birthday book, saying how much he deeply regretted

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<v Speaker 2>his association with Epstein. But then, and obviously to us,

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<v Speaker 2>this really stood out when he started saying hinting at

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<v Speaker 2>further revelations to come, which to our minds certainly suggested

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<v Speaker 2>that he was obviously aware of what we'd sent. And

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<v Speaker 2>it was that point we decided to directly go to

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<v Speaker 2>him on WhatsApp because at this point we still have

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<v Speaker 2>not received any recognition from him that he'd received anything

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<v Speaker 2>that we'd sent to him, and so we messaged him

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<v Speaker 2>and then it I guess that sort of things that

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<v Speaker 2>sort of started spiraling really from there, and we ended

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<v Speaker 2>up obviously publishing later that day.

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<v Speaker 3>At this point, I'd like to bring in our political correspondent,

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<v Speaker 3>Ellen Milligan to think about this revelation. I mean, these

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<v Speaker 3>were letters and support this relationship between Mandelssohn and Epstein

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<v Speaker 3>around the time of his conviction for soliciting sex from

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<v Speaker 3>a minor. This is the issue for Kirs Starmer, now,

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<v Speaker 3>isn't it?

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<v Speaker 2>Ellen?

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<v Speaker 3>How damaging do you think this is for the Prime

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<v Speaker 3>Minister around his judgment. That's the question that politicians and

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<v Speaker 3>others in the country are seeming to put to the

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<v Speaker 3>Prime Minister.

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<v Speaker 4>Now.

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it's deeply damaging. And the Prime Minister has suffered

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<v Speaker 5>other resignations during his one or so years in office,

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<v Speaker 5>including his Deputy Prime Minister over a tax issue recently,

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<v Speaker 5>but the sacking of Peter Mandelson is uniquely humiliating because

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<v Speaker 5>it was entirely predictable. I mean, this is a politician

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<v Speaker 5>who had to resign twice from Tony Blair's government for

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<v Speaker 5>his murky relationships with wealthy businessmen. He's a politician whose

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<v Speaker 5>friendship with Epstein, including since his two thousand and eight conviction,

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<v Speaker 5>was public knowledge. It was raised in the vetting process

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<v Speaker 5>we report today when he was made ambassador and the

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<v Speaker 5>Prime Minister was warned about this. He was asked about

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<v Speaker 5>it by The Financial Times on the week of his appointment,

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<v Speaker 5>to which Manderson told the FT to f off. All

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<v Speaker 5>these questions have been swirling around Peter Anderson for years,

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<v Speaker 5>and what Harry's reporting did was kind of shine new

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<v Speaker 5>light on the depths of the relationship, but much of

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<v Speaker 5>it was known. And though yes there are questions being

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<v Speaker 5>raised now about the Prime Minister's judgment about his Chief

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<v Speaker 5>of Stealth, Morgan McSweeney's judgment, who we've reported was a

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<v Speaker 5>big advocate for Manderson getting this role, it raises questions

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<v Speaker 5>about the vetting process and also questions about the government's

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<v Speaker 5>own reasoning for sacking Manderson. I mean, in their statement

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<v Speaker 5>they say that the emails that Harry publish showing new

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<v Speaker 5>depth and extent to the relationship, in particular the Peter

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<v Speaker 5>Anderson suggestion that Epstein's first conviction was wrong. And I

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<v Speaker 5>was in the briefing with the Prime Minister's spokesperson yesterday

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<v Speaker 5>and we were putting to him, you know that sounds

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<v Speaker 5>like you were comfortable with them having a friendship as

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<v Speaker 5>long as he thought Epstein was guilty of the crimes.

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<v Speaker 5>But now because there's evidence that he thought he was innocent,

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<v Speaker 5>that's the thing that's moved to the dial. There are

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<v Speaker 5>lots of questions being raised around the judgment of the

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<v Speaker 5>Prime Minister.

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<v Speaker 3>Now indeed, Ellen will await you're reporting then on what

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<v Speaker 3>does happen at that state visit. That is our political correspondent,

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<v Speaker 3>Ellen Milligan, and in our studio, our finance reporter Harry

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<v Speaker 3>Wilson reporting on those emails revealing that relationship between Peter

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<v Speaker 3>Mandelson and the late Jeffrey Epstein.

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<v Speaker 1>And you can read more of those stories Epstein's inbox

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<v Speaker 1>on the Bloomberg website, on Bloomberg dot comen the terminal

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<v Speaker 1>as well, and more on the story behind the story

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<v Speaker 1>of Mandelsson's Epstein emails. You find both of those stories

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<v Speaker 1>on the Bloomberg website. This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe, your

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<v Speaker 1>morning brief on the stories making news from London to

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