Peter Mandelson: Why can saying sorry sometimes seem too simple?

On Sunday morning, Peter Mandelson refused to apologise for maintaining his friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in an interview with the BBC.  

Last night, the former British ambassador to Washington told the BBC he had changed his mind, offering a personal apology to the victims of the disgraced US financier and admitting it was wrong to have remained in contact with him.   

Lord Mandelson is a man who knows a thing or two about framing narratives and rehabilitating reputations.  

He has been in and around power for half a lifetime and was widely lauded for developing a personal relationship with the Trump Presidency in Washington DC.  

But he was sacked in September last year from his diplomatic post by Sir Keir Starmer following the publication of dozens of emails between Mandelson and Epstein, which illustrated how their friendship went far deeper and for far longer than previously had been known.  

Particularly damaging were photos of the two men, laughing and joking on holiday and references from Peter Mandelson that Epstein was his “best pal”.  

So why the latest change of heart and the apology to the victims, after first refusing to do so, and all in the space of just over twenty-four hours?  

The reaction to the BBC interview from a wide cross section of senior Labour figures certainly has to play a part. The Business Secretary Peter Kyle called it a “lapse of judgement”, while Baroness Kennedy termed it “shocking”.  

For more than thirty years Peter Mandelson has been a byword for effective communications. During his long career as a media strategist and politician, he’s been called everything from the “Prince of Darkness” to, if you believe social media, “Sneaky Pete” by President Trump. 

But throughout the past forty years there’s been a sense of highwire risk attached to his manoeuvring. A generation ago, he had to resign on two separate occasions as a Cabinet Minister, firstly over undeclared home loans and then over issues related to passport applications for wealthy businessmen.   

Could it be that a sense of personal grievance and betrayal overwhelmed Mandelson’s judgement? Sometimes saying sorry can seem too simple.