Peter Mandelson could lose £31,000 EU pension as he faces fraud probe | Politics | News
Peter Mandelson could lose his £31,000-a-year EU pension over allegations he shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein. The European Commission has referred Lord Mandelson to a fraud investigation over allegations that he gave the American financier and sex offender advance notice of the EU’s 500 billion euro bailout package for Greece.
This means he could lose the generous EU pension he received after serving just four years as EU commissioner from 2004-08. The 72-year-old has been eligible for these payments since he turned 65 in 2018. However, pensions in the EU are subject to good behavior provisions that apply “both during and after their term of office”, meaning they can be revoked.
An EU spokesperson said the Commission had asked the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) to review documents published as part of the Epstein files, Politico reported. They show Lord Mandelson gave Epstein advance notice of the EU’s €500bn bailout for Greece, which was agreed in 2010 when he was trade secretary in the Labor Government led by Gordon Brown.
Lord Mandelson was arrested by the Metropolitan Police earlier this week on suspicion of abuse of public office.
“Given the circumstances and the significant amount of documents made public, the European Commission also asked Olaf to review the matter on February 18,” a European Commission spokesperson told Politico.
Lord Mandelson denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the Government has confirmed that the Prime Minister cannot overrule Parliament’s security watchdog over whether to release documents relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to Washington.
Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said officials had confirmed “in writing” after Thursday’s meeting that it would have the final say on what documents would be released.
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MPs ordered the Government to release a trove of documents relating to the appointment following questions about peer review and his links to Epstein.
Some of the thousands of documents are expected to be retained for national security reasons, but it will be up to the ISC rather than ministers to decide which items need to be redacted.
In a statement, the ISC said it met with Cabinet Office officials on Thursday morning.
He said: “Following this morning’s meeting, officials confirmed in writing to the committee that the decision on whether to publish material referred to the ISC rests solely with the committee.
“The Prime Minister – or any other person in the Government – will not be able to override the committee’s decision to publish material referred to him.”
