Peter Mandelson to step down from Lords in bombshell announcement | Politics | News
It was announced by the Lord Speaker that Lord Mandelson will leave the House of Lords.
The Labor member is stepping back from the upper house following allegations released by the US Department of Justice that showed Gordon Brown passed material to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a cabinet minister in the Labor administration.
He insisted that Epstein’s money did not influence his actions in government as Scotland Yard investigated reports of alleged misconduct in a public office.
No 10 also revealed that the Cabinet Office referred the material to the police after an initial review of documents released as part of the so-called Epstein files found they contained “possibly market-sensitive information” and that official action measures had been “compromised”.
The Prime Minister told his Cabinet on Tuesday that the alleged forwarding of emails about highly sensitive government business was “disgraceful” amid accusations that his peer had leaked information to the pedophile financier.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said at a Cabinet reading that Sir Keir opened the meeting by addressing “the latest developments regarding Peter Mandelson”.
“The Prime Minister said he was appalled by the information revealed in the Epstein files over the weekend,” he said.
“He said the alleged forwarding of emails relating to highly sensitive Government business was disgraceful and added that he had not been reassured that the full information had yet been revealed.
“The Prime Minister told the cabinet that Peter Mandelson should no longer be a member of the House of Lords or use that title and said he had asked the Cabinet Secretary to review all available information regarding Mandelson’s contact with Jeffrey Epstein during his time as a government minister.
“He said the Government had made it clear that it would co-operate with the police in any investigation they carried out, but he said the Government needed to press on and go further, working quickly with the Lords, including the legislature if necessary.
“He reiterated the need to act quickly.
“The Prime Minister said Peter Mandelson had let his country down.”
In an interview with the Times before the latest allegations emerged, Lord Mandelson admitted he made an “error of judgment” in funding an osteopathy course for Reinaldo Avila da Silva, the husband of Epstein’s peer, in 2009, when the government was dealing with the global financial crisis.
The files contain reference to a £10,000 transfer from Epstein.
“Looking back, it was clearly a mistake in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer. It was not a consequential decision at the time,” he said.
