Ian Hislop on Peter Mandelson and people who said they had ‘no idea’ about Epstein is 2 minutes exceptionally well spent

We can never get enough of Ian Hislop on these pages, and on Tuesday he was on LBC with Andrew Marr talking – what else? – Jeffrey Epstein, Peter Mandelson and much else besides.

In particular, what will happen next to Mandelson and looking back to a Private Eye cover in 2011 which was controversial at the time but gets more on the money with every passing day.

Ian Hislop: “Mandelson is going to be arrested… as the full criminal investigation will be very serious…. everyone was pretending they didn’t know…”#LBC pic.twitter.com/6ZuMhS3XxR

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) February 3, 2026

And here are just a few of the things people said in response.

1.

@PrivateEyeNews on the money AGAIN. From Johnson to Mandelson and of course the Post Office scandal. Well done 👏

— Pete (@petermaurice22) February 3, 2026

2.

This Epstein saga, with it’s obvious security implications, has the makings of the Profumo scandal look like a bedtime story.

— Winston Collinge 🌻 🇺🇦 (@gwcollinge) February 3, 2026

3.

Ian Hislop is a national treasure. For those that pay attention. https://t.co/DrrrMSOZRO

— Lyndsay Jordan (@LyndsayJordan) February 3, 2026

4.

He’s been called “The Prince of Darkness” since the mid 80s. The clues were there in plain sight.
WHY did nobody say anything and DO something?

— 🐟Dame Rainbow Warrior💙 🇪🇺 🦋 (@SandraDunn1955) February 3, 2026

5.

The gap between Private Eye cover and someone going to jail is always two decades too long. https://t.co/LOJ13Il14s

— Willshome 💚 Compassion in my❤️ Corbyn to my bones (@willshome) February 3, 2026

6.

More Ian Hislops, less MPs.

— Dave Kampbell (@DaveKampbe32971) February 3, 2026

Here is that cover, which has just gone viral on Twitter all over again.

This is a @PrivateEyeNews cover from FIFTEEN YEARS AGO. pic.twitter.com/2SPVkydN8O

— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) February 3, 2026

And here is more of what Ian Hislop had to tell Andrew Marr.

‘At least there is some shame this side of the pond…’
‘Nothing seems to be happening over there.’

Private Eye Editor Ian Hislop is shocked by the US’s ‘muted’ response to the Epstein files. pic.twitter.com/EVaTS130gG

— LBC (@LBC) February 3, 2026

Lots more Private Eye over here – and subscribe here!

Source @Haggis_UK