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Peter Mandelson is facing a police probe after Sir Keir Starmer handed authorities a dossier of extraordinary emails that suggested the disgraced peer had leaked sensitive government information to Jeffrey Epstein.
In an astonishing attack on the former minister, Sir Keir accused Lord Mandelson of letting “his country down” and warned there could be more damning revelations to emerge in the scandal, which has rocked the Labour Party and British politics.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has also written to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley with “information relevant to his investigation of Lord Mandelson’s disclosure of market-sensitive and confidential government information” to Epstein, while serving as business secretary in his government as it dealt with the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash.
Sir Keir has ordered a new government review into all contact between the disgraced paedophile financier and Lord Mandelson while he was Mr Brown’s business secretary. He also asked officials to draft legislation to strip Lord Mandelson of his peerage “as quickly as possible”.
Hours later, the Lord Speaker announced the former UK ambassador to Washington, who had already quit the Labour Party over the tranche of emails, would stand down from the House of Lords.
The Metropolitan Police is expected to announce on Tuesday evening that Lord Mandelson is being investigated on suspicion of misconduct in public office, The Times reported.
Sir Keir is expected to come under further pressure on Wednesday as the Conservatives try to push a binding vote in the Commons to force ministers to reveal details of vetting carried out before Lord Mandelson was made US ambassador last year.
On another day of major developments:
- Prince Edward became the first member of the royal family to speak out about the most recently released Epstein documents, saying it was important to “remember the victims”
- Sarah Ferguson’s charity announced it will close “for the foreseeable future” after new revelations emerged about the former duchess’s friendship with Epstein
- In a bizarre interview, Lord Mandelson insisted he would not hide “under a rock” as he praised Epstein’s dinner parties
- A new photo emerged from the Epstein files apparently showing the peer receiving a foot massage
- Sir Keir said it was “gobsmacking” that a politician wouldn’t remember payments of significant sums of money from Epstein, as Lord Mandelson had claimed
Downing Street confirmed the Cabinet Office had referred material to the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday amid concerns that handling safeguards around “highly sensitive government information” had been “compromised”.
The Met Police is already reviewing reports into alleged misconduct in a public office over the alleged leaking of sensitive information. But it is understood that the new dossier was handed over at the government’s instigation, and had not been requested by the police.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “An initial review of the documents released in relation to Jeffrey Epstein by the US Department of Justice … found that they contain likely market-sensitive information surrounding the 2008 financial crash and official activities thereafter to stabilise the economy.
“Only people operating in an official capacity had access to this information [and there were] strict handling conditions to ensure it was not available to anyone who could potentially benefit from it financially. It appears these safeguards were compromised.
“In light of this information, the Cabinet Office has referred this material to the police.”
Sir Keir told his cabinet that he was “appalled” by what had emerged in the past few days in the Epstein files.
He said the alleged passing on of highly sensitive government information was disgraceful, adding that he was not reassured that the totality of information had yet emerged.
He added that for the public to see a politician say that they could not recall significant sums of money, after bank statements from 2003 and 2004 appear to show he received payments totalling $75,000 from the financier, was “gobsmacking” and risked undermining voters’ faith in politics.
Before Lord Mandelson announced he would retire from the Lords, Sir Keir told his cabinet that the government “had to press and go further, working at speed in the Lords, including legislatively if necessary” to remove him.
No 10 said officials were drafting legislation that would allow his peerage to be removed “as quickly as possible”, in what is understood to be a timeline of weeks, not months. Downing Street also said the PM believed the Lords should have a mechanism to “remove transgressors” more quickly.
The latest tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice appears to show Epstein was sent internal discussions from the heart of the UK government in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Lord Mandelson has insisted Epstein’s money did not influence his actions in government.
On Monday, Lord Mandelson admitted his partner had accepted funding from Epstein for an osteopathy course. But he rejected the suggestion this had left him open to bribery claims.
In the interview with The Times, which was conducted over a number of days, he suggested he thought he still had a future in British public life, saying that “hiding under a rock would be a disproportionate response to a handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending”.
With pressure mounting on Lord Mandelson to resign from the Lords, health secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC earlier on Tuesday that the peer’s actions were a “betrayal on so many levels”.
There are continued calls for Lord Mandelson to be removed from the privy council, which advises the monarch.
On Monday, Mr Brown revealed that he asked for an investigation five months ago into “the sale of assets arising from the banking collapse and communications about them between Lord Mandelson and Mr Epstein” after emails sent between the pair assessing the state of the UK economy in the wake of the financial crisis, suggested the government had “saleable assets” that could be sold to the private sector to reduce debt.
Mr Brown said he was told that there was “no record of any communication between Epstein and Lord Mandelson on the issue”.
Asked if the new internal review would look again at the questions raised by Mr Brown, No 10 said it would consider “all” contact between the two men.
