Keir Starmer said the alleged leaking of sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein by Lord Mandelson was “disgraceful”. The Prime Minister said he was “appalled” by the information that had emerged over the weekend in the Epstein files. Sir Keir’s spokesman said: “The prime minister said he was appalled by the information that had emerged over the weekend in the Epstein files. He said the alleged passing on of emails of highly sensitive government business was disgraceful.”
And suggesting there could be more revelations to come, the Prime Minister told his Cabinet he was “not reassured that the totality of the information had yet emerged.” Sir Keir repeated his insistence that Peter Mandelson, the former Labour Cabinet Minister and ex-Ambassador to the US, must leave the House of Lords – and said Number 10 would co-operate with a police inquiry.
“The Prime Minister told Cabinet that Peter Mandelson should no longer be a member of the House of Lords or use the title, and said that he had asked the Cabinet Secretary to review all available information regarding Mandelson’s contacts with Jeffrey Epstein during his time serving as a government Business Secretary,” Sir Keir’s spokesman said.
“He said he had made it clear that the government would cooperate with the police in any inquiries they carried out.”
The Prime Minister added that moving quickly in this matter was vital. The Cabinet office sent material to police on Tuesday, it is understood.
And Sir Keir told his Cabinet Lord Peter Mandelson had “let his country down”.
The Metropolitan Police are reviewing reports of alleged misconduct in a public office over accusations that the peer leaked sensitive information from the heart of government to Epstein.
Sir Keir has alsoasked getting officials to draft legislation to remove Mandelson from the House of Lords
It comes as files released by the US Department of Justice apparently showed Lord Mandelson passing information to Epstein while the peer was a cabinet minister in Gordon Brown’s government.
In a Times interview conducted before the latest allegations came to light, Lord Mandelson admitted to a “lapse in judgment” over Epstein’s funding of an osteopathy course for the peer’s husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva in 2009, at the time the government was dealing with the global financial crisis.
Labour former Deputy Leader Harriet Harman said today she has believed Lord Mandelson to be untrustworthy since the 1990s, but “could never have believed” he would leak information while a cabinet minister.
Lady Harman said: “I was of the view that Peter Mandelson was untrustworthy from the 1990s, but he was appointed by Tony Blair, he was appointed by Gordon Brown, and appointed again by Sir Keir Starmer.
“But even I, who had a view that he was untrustworthy, I could never have believed that, Gordon Brown having appointed him to the cabinet, that he would sit in that cabinet and leak information whilst the government was struggling to protect the country from the global financial crisis.
“Even I have been shocked at the degree of his wrongdoing.”