Peter Mandelson will step down from the House of Lords amid allegations he passed market-sensitive government information to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, prompting Prime Minister Keir Starmer to threaten swift legislation to strip the former Cabinet minister of his title.
The Cabinet Office said it handed material to police after an initial review of documents released as part of the Epstein files found they contained “likely market-sensitive information” and that official handling safeguards had been “compromised.” Police are assessing information relating to potential misconduct in public office.
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The files, released by the U.S. Department of Justice, apparently show that Mandelson, while serving as business secretary, provided Epstein with material as the government grappled with the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath. Mandelson has not publicly responded to the latest disclosures.
In the House of Lords, Mr. Forsyth told peers that the clerk of the parliaments had received notice of Mandelson’s intention to retire, effective Feb. 4. “I will formally notify this to the house tomorrow in the usual way,” he said.
Starmer opened Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting by saying he was “appalled by the information that had emerged over the weekend in the Epstein files,” according to his spokesman. The prime minister said the alleged passing-on of highly sensitive government business was “disgraceful,” and he was not reassured that the full picture had yet emerged. He added that Mandelson had “let his country down.”
Downing Street said Starmer asked Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald to review all available information about Mandelson’s contact with Epstein during his time in government. The prime minister said the government would cooperate with any police inquiries but would also “work at speed” in the Lords—“including legislatively if necessary”—to ensure Mandelson could no longer sit or use his title.
The escalating fallout from the latest Epstein disclosures has also touched the royal family. Prince Edward, speaking in Dubai at the World Government Summit, became the first senior royal to comment publicly since millions of additional documents related to Epstein were released. Asked by a journalist how he was coping with the controversy surrounding his brother, Prince Andrew, Edward said it was important “always to remember the victims and who are the victims in all this.”
Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, appear in a number of email exchanges with Epstein contained in the newly public material. In one exchange, Andrew appears to invite Epstein to Buckingham Palace, while Sarah writes, “I am at your service. Just marry me.” Epstein also appears to introduce Andrew to a woman he described as “26, Russian, clevere [sic] beautiful, trustworthy,” and Andrew, in a note from the same month, apparently tells Epstein: “Wish I was still a pet in your family.”
Andrew has consistently and vehemently denied any wrongdoing. In 2022, he paid millions of euros to settle a civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell when she was 17. Andrew has said he never met Giuffre. The source material also states he was stripped of his titles last year after the posthumous publication of Giuffre’s book.
Separately, lawyers representing another woman have urged King Charles to contact them over allegations their client was sent to the U.K. for a sexual encounter with Andrew. Brad Edwards of U.S. firm Edwards Henderson has previously said his client spent the night with Andrew after being given a tour of Buckingham Palace.
The Cabinet Office, Metropolitan Police and Mandelson’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
