REVEALED: Mandelson Pushed For Prince Andrew To Be Trade Envoy

March 10, 2026·1 hr 2 min·5 clips

Peter Mandelson pushed for Prince Andrew's trade envoy job, overruling King Charles' concerns about his playboy lifestyle.

The episode opens with a summary of the day's news: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's release from custody after 11 hours of questioning, continued searches of Royal Lodge, and the fact that Andrew is the first royal family member arrested in 350 years. Private Eye reporting reveals that Mandelson, himself under police investigation for Epstein links, actively lobbied Blair to appoint Andrew as the UK's trade envoy, overriding objections from Charles, who reportedly predicted Andrew would use the post to chase women, cultivate wealthy associates, and play golf. A Guardian article from 2001 is cited noting concerns raised at the time about Andrew's association with Ghislaine Maxwell. Hosts track Andrew's conduct across his decade in the trade envoy role: friendships with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, a Libyan gun smuggler, and the son-in-law of Tunisia's Ben Ali; an unexplained three-million-pound overpayment for Sunninghill Park from a Kazakh oligarch; and extensive travel to Gulf monarchies. A 2015 Epstein email surfaces in which Epstein writes to Mandelson conceding that his friendship with Andrew had come to no good. Former PM Gordon Brown's submission of a five-page memorandum to multiple police forces is noted, detailing 90 Epstein-organised flights through British airports potentially carrying trafficked girls, with at least one email linking a girl to Andrew. YouGov polling shows 82 percent of Britons want Andrew removed from the line of succession. The second major story covers Labour Together secretly hiring US firm APCO to produce a report linking journalists Paul Holden, Gabriel Pogrand, and Harry York to a pro-Kremlin network, then forwarding that report to GCHQ in an attempt to open a national security investigation. GCHQ declined. Investigative journalist Paul Holden gives a segment interview detailing how APCO used data-tracking software to identify where he lived and who he lived with. The episode notes the irony that the Labour minister who hired APCO is now the minister responsible for Digital ID. Guest Barry Malone contextualises the story, noting it is unusual for a political think tank rather than an intelligence agency to run this kind of operation against journalists. The episode closes with Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer appearing live from a community Iftar, discussing new polling that shows her in the lead for the Gordon and Denton by-election.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Truth