Disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor faces a fresh headache as ministers have agreed to release files related to his appointment to the trade envoy role, as the former prince was described as “a rude, arrogant and entitled man”. After a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, MPs were told the Government is unable to publish material that police need for their inquiries until officers are “satisfied”.
Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, is the MP who introduced the motion. The former prince served as trade envoy between 2001 and 2011, and faces accusations of sharing sensitive information with Epstein while in the role.
He was arrested last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office while dealing with Jeffrey Epstein, before being released under investigation after 11 hours.
In the Commons, trade minister Sir Chris Bryant described Andrew as “a man on a constant self-aggrandising and self-enriching hustle” and “a rude, arrogant and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interest, which he said he served, and his own private interest”.
Sir Chris backed Liberal Democrat-led calls to publish the papers on Andrew’s role, including any vetting and any correspondence from Lord Mandelson.
The party used a humble address, the same arcane mechanism the Tories used to press for the release of files on Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, to pressure the Government.
Speaking at the despatch box on Tuesday, Sir Chris said: “Let me be clear from the outset, we support this motion today.
“Frankly, it is the least we owe the victims of the horrific abuse that was perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein and others, the abuse that was enabled, aided and abetted by a very extensive group of arrogant, entitled and often very wealthy individuals in this country and elsewhere.
“It’s not just the people who participated in the abuse. It’s the many, many more who turned a blind eye out of greed, familiarity or deference.
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“As the police have rightly said, it is absolutely crucial that the integrity of their investigation is protected, and now these proceedings are under way, it would be wrong of me to say anything that might prejudice them, nor will the Government be able to put into the public domain anything that is required by the police for them to conduct their inquiries, unless and until the police are satisfied.”
Sir Chris said he wants to “manage people’s expectations” about how quickly the papers on Andrew can be released, given the age and quantity of the material and the ongoing police investigation.
He said: “It’s worth bearing in mind that the documents that might be envisaged in this are mostly 25 years old. Some of them are a bit earlier. They may be substantial in number and many of them will be in hard copy.”
Opening the debate, Sir Ed Davey said: “Can there be many people more symbolic of the rot that eats away at the British establishment than the former duke of York and special trade envoy, and the former business secretary, first secretary of state and ambassador to the United States?
“Their association with Epstein and their actions on his behalf, while trusted with the privilege of public office, are a stain on our country. We must begin to clean away that stain with the disinfectant of transparency.”
Alex Burghart, the Conservative shadow Cabinet Office minister, said his party welcomed the motion, but criticised the Government for not disclosing the information without the need for a humble address.
He said: “What would have been better is if the Government had been proactive on this and had not had to be brought to the House by opposition parties in order to release this information.”
Meanwhile, the Commons Business and Trade Committee said it would begin gathering information ahead of a potential inquiry into the trade envoy system, but a final decision would not be taken until after any case against Andrew had concluded.
The Government did not oppose the Lib Dem humble address motion.
Sir Keir Starmer‘s spokesman said: “We are in favour of the principle of transparency. We can’t publish material that would jeopardise a police investigation, as you know, so that is the balancing exercise.”
Kemi Badenoch also signalled the Tories will support the motion, and that she does not expect the Commons to divide to vote on it.
The Tory leader told a press conference in central London: “I don’t think there’s actually going to be a vote, I don’t think anyone disagrees with them (the Lib Dems).”
New Zealand has become the second Commonwealth realm to announce it would support the UK Government if it proposes to remove Andrew from the royal line of succession. It followed a similar step by Australia on Monday.
The agreement of all 15 Commonwealth realms, including the UK, is required to remove Andrew from the line of succession. He is currently eighth in line to the throne.