Mandelson’s Epstein Email Casts Fresh Shadow Over 2009 Hartlepool Honour..
- Feb 5
- 3 min read
Epstein Correspondence Confirms Mandelson Contact During Hartlepool Freedom Visit As 'Pink Paper Fix' Scandal Deepens...
5th Feb 2026
Fresh questions have emerged over the controversial decision to award Peter Mandelson the Freedom of the Borough of Hartlepool back in 2009, after an email from the “Epstein files” appears to place the former Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson in direct contact with the convicted financier Jeffrey Epstein at precisely the time of his visit to the North East to receive the accolade.
The email, dated 12th of March 2010, shows a message sent from Mandelson’s BlackBerry to an address used by Epstein in which Mandelson wrote: “I am in north east – freeman of borough of Hartlepool – now going to north east…will call.”
The message was sent at 9.04am UK time in reply to an earlier communication from Epstein, who had written to Mandelson at 3.32am that same day. The exchange forms part of the tranche of documents released from Epstein’s correspondence.
At the time, Mandelson’s visit to Hartlepool and his receipt of the borough’s highest civic honour was secured by then council leader Jonathan Brash, a move which remains deeply contentious in the town.
Critics have long argued that the Freedom of the Borough was pushed through in what become locally known as the “pink paper fix” — a term used by opponents to describe what they allege was a politically motivated stitch-up behind closed doors to 'sail through' Peter Mandelson's honor to the town rather than a transparent, cross-party decision.
The newly surfaced email whilst not suggest any wrongdoing on Mandelson’s part, it does confirm that he was in communication with Epstein contemporaneously with his Hartlepool visit, rather than at some distant point in the past. That timing is likely to reignite debate in the town, where many residents already questioned why such a prestigious honour was granted to a peer with who'd already had a tumultuous time in government .
For Jonathan Brash, now the town’s Member of Parliament & pictured regularly with Mr. Mandelson alongside Brash's 2023-2024 General Election Campaign, the revelation is politically awkward. Since the full scale of the Epstein scandal emerged, Brash has sought to desperately distance himself from the 2010 decision, insisting that the council honours processes was 'collective' and that he acted in good faith on the information available at the time.
Opponents however argue that the email undercuts those efforts, placing the Mandelson–Epstein connection uncomfortably close to the very moment Jonathan Brash was championing his elevation in Hartlepool.
The situation is said to go beyond personalities and speaks to a broader culture of deference to Westminster figures at the expense of local accountability. They contend that the “pink paper” episode, now viewed through the prism of the Epstein correspondence, illustrates how decisions of lasting civic significance were made with insufficient public scrutiny & the naivety of a then young council leader who was desperate to make his name within the local Labour political ranks.
Hartlepool Borough Council has declined to reopen the matter, noting that the Freedom of the Borough was lawfully conferred over a decade ago. Nonetheless, the release of the Epstein email is likely to ensure that questions about Mandelson’s visit — and Brash’s role in it — continue to resonate in the town for some time to come & shows no signs of subsiding.
