Andrew faces fresh headache as ministers agree to release files | Royal | News

Disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor faces a new headache as ministers agree to release dossiers relating to his appointment to the role of trade envoy as the former prince has been described as a “rude, arrogant and entitled man”. Following Tuesday’s parliamentary debate, MPs were told the Government cannot release material police need for their investigations until officers are “satisfied”.

Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, was the MP who presented the motion. The former prince served as trade envoy between 2001 and 2011 and is accused of sharing sensitive information with Epstein while in that role.

He was arrested last week on suspicion of abuse of public office while dealing with Jeffrey Epstein and was released under investigation 11 hours later.

In the House of Commons, business secretary Sir Chris Bryant described Andrew as “a man constantly engaged in a quest for self-aggrandisement and enrichment” and “a rude, arrogant and entitled man who cannot distinguish between the public interest he professes to serve and his own private interest”.

Sir Chris backed calls led by the Liberal Democrats for the release of documents relating to Andrew’s role, including Lord Mandelson’s investigations and correspondence.

To put pressure on the Government, the party used a low-key address, the same arcane mechanism used by the Conservatives to release files on Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.

Speaking at the despatch box on Tuesday, Sir Chris said: “Let me be clear from the beginning, we support this motion today.

“Frankly, we owe at least that to the victims of the horrific abuse perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein and others, who were enabled, aided and abetted by a vast group of arrogant, entitled and often very wealthy individuals in this country and elsewhere.

“It’s not just people taking part in the abuse. There are many more who turn a blind eye out of greed, familiarity or respect.

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“As the police have rightly said, it is absolutely vital that the integrity of the investigation is maintained and at the moment these proceedings are ongoing, it would be wrong for me to say anything that might be prejudicial to them and the Government will not be able to put into the public domain anything that the police require to carry out their investigations unless the police are satisfied.”

Sir Chris said he wanted to “manage people’s expectations” about how quickly documents about Andrew could be released, given the age and quantity of the material and the ongoing police investigation.

“It is important to remember that the documents likely to be contemplated in this are mostly 25 years old. Some are a little earlier. They can be significant in number and many will be in print.”

Opening the debate, Sir Ed Davey said: “Can there be many people more emblematic of the rot eating away at the British establishment than the former Duke of York and special trade envoy, former trade secretary, first secretary of state and US ambassador?

“Their association with Epstein, who was trusted with the privilege of public office, and their actions on his behalf are a stain on our country. We must begin to cleanse this stain with the disinfectant of transparency.”

Conservative Shadow Cabinet Minister Alex Burghart said his party welcomed the motion but criticized the Government for not disclosing the information without needing a modest address.

He said: “It would have been better if the government had acted proactively on this issue and not brought this information to Parliament by opposition parties to disclose it.”

Meanwhile, the Commons Business and Trade Committee said it would begin gathering information ahead of a potential investigation into the trade ambassador system but a final decision would not be made until any case against Andrew is concluded.

The government did not oppose the Liberal Democrats’ modest appeal motion.

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “We stand for transparency. As you know, we cannot publish material that would compromise the police investigation, so this is a balancing act.”

Kemi Badenoch also signaled that the Conservatives would support the motion and did not wait for the House of Commons to be divided to vote.

The Tory leader told a press conference in central London: “I don’t think there will actually be a vote, I don’t think anyone agrees with them (the Lib Dems).”

New Zealand has become the second Commonwealth territory to announce it will support the UK Government if it proposes to remove Andrew from the royal succession. On Monday, Australia took a similar step.

All 15 Commonwealth territories, including the UK, would need to agree to remove Andrew from the line of succession. He is currently eighth in line for the throne.