Lord Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords after leaking confidential emails to Jeffrey Epstein. Photo / Getty Images
Lord Peter Mandelson is to step down from the House of Lords after it emerged he leaked confidential government emails to Jeffrey Epstein.
He bowed to pressure to quit after further evidence was revealed about his links to the late paedophile in a release of more than three million files in the US last week.
While serving as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s Cabinet, Mandelson shared market-sensitive information with Epstein that the late paedophile financier could have used to make money.
He is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police about allegations he committed misconduct in public office. Among those writing to Sir Mark Rowley, the Met commissioner, was Brown, the former prime minister, it emerged on Tuesday.
Sir Keir Starmer had faced calls from dozens of his own MPs to strip Mandelson of his peerage and will now be under further pressure to pass a law to remove his title.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “It is right that Peter Mandelson will no longer be a member of the House of Lords. As the Prime Minister said this morning, Peter Mandelson let his country down.”
In other developments:
Mandelson resigned under the 2014 House of Lords Reform Act, relinquishing his peerage. However, this will not strip him of his title, and an act of Parliament must be passed to do so.
Starmer said that he should lose his title for bringing the House of Lords “into disrepute” and, on Tuesday, Downing Street opened the door to wide-reaching Lords reform that would make it easier for peers to be stripped of their titles.
The Titles Deprivation Act 1917, which would remove Lord Mandelson’s title, was last used in 1917 against a group of peers who had aided enemies of Britain during the war.
However, Starmer and his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, are still facing questions from critics and his own MPs over why Mandelson was appointed in the first place.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said on Tuesday afternoon: “The scandal, sleaze, and speed of his downfall only increases the scrutiny on Starmer and McSweeney’s decision to send him to Washington.”
Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for Leeds East, said: “[Lord Mandelson] needs to face the toughest consequences possible. But what we already knew about his behaviour was appalling enough.
“So the question remains – why was he appointed US Ambassador? Who lobbied for it? And why?”
Starmer told his Cabinet on Tuesday morning that the transmission of highly sensitive government business to Epstein was “disgraceful” and the peer had “let his country down”.
He added that he was “not reassured that the totality of information had yet emerged”.
Documents released over the weekend suggest that Epstein sent Mandelson US$75,000 ($124,000) and £10,000 ($22,000) to his husband, although the peer claims he has no record of the payments.
In turn, Lord Mandelson’s disclosures to the paedophile included plans for a multibillion-pound EU bailout, Brown’s resignation and the potential sale of government land and property.
The documents also showed Epstein lobbying him to change banker bonus rules.
Brown wrote to Rowley on Tuesday with “relevant” information for his investigation.
The former prime minister said he had written to the Met Police commissioner over what he called “an inexcusable and unpatriotic act at a time when the whole Government and country were attempting to address the global financial crisis that was damaging so many livelihoods”.
The Cabinet Office handed a dossier to the force after an initial review suggested that “safeguards were compromised”.
A Downing Street spokesman 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.”
On Tuesday night, Commander Ella Marriott, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “Following the further release of millions of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein by the US department of justice, the Met received a number of reports into alleged misconduct in public office including a referral from the UK Government.
“I can confirm that the Met has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former government minister, for misconduct in public office offences.”
The peer has insisted Epstein’s money did not influence his actions in government.
In a Times interview conducted before the latest allegations came to light, Mandelson admitted to a “lapse in judgment” over Epstein’s funding of an osteopathy course for Reinaldo Avila da Silva, the peer’s husband, in 2009, while the Government was dealing with the global financial crisis.
“In retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer. At the time it was not a consequential decision,” he said.
Mandelson rejected the suggestion that the payment left him open to bribery claims.
Senior Labour figures expressed shock at the revelations. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, called Mandelson’s actions a “betrayal on so many levels” and Baroness Harman, the former deputy Labour leader, said she was “shocked at the degree of his wrongdoing”.
Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister, could face questions as part of the Government’s investigation into Mandelson alongside McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary.
Karin Smyth, a health minister, was asked whether Sir Chris Wormald should investigate what McFadden and Lammy knew, as both had served under Mandelson.
She told LBC’s Nick Ferrari: “The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Secretary to look into those particular emails that we learnt about yesterday. So I think we just have to let the Cabinet Secretary do that work. And, you know, this is all new.”
Asked whether Lammy and McFadden should be involved, Smyth responded: “Well, the Cabinet Secretary will be looking at whatever needs to be looked at from that period of time, and you wouldn’t expect me to speculate further on that at this particular time.
“Every half hour is a new shocking revelation about that period of time. I think we’re all shocked about the revelations in those emails, and it is right that the Prime Minister took action to ensure the Cabinet Secretary does investigate that at the time.”
The humiliating announcement brings to an end a political career spanning more than 40 years.
Mandelson first gained public attention as Neil Kinnock’s spin doctor in the 1980s, before being elected as an MP himself in 1992.
Under Tony Blair, he was forced to resign from two Cabinet positions following political scandals, but Brown brought him back to Westminster as business secretary in 2008. During this time, he sent the compromising emails to Epstein.
Starmer brought Mandelson back last year as ambassador to the US, but sacked him when the closeness of his relationship with Epstein became clear.
On Sunday night, the peer resigned from the Labour Party to avoid causing “further embarrassment”.
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