Keir Starmer plans to draft a new law to remove Peter Mandelson’s right to sit in Britain’s House of Lords, following new revelations in the Epstein files about the former British ambassador to Washington’s connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The British prime minister has asked officials to draft legislation to remove Mandelson from the House of Lords “as quickly as possible,” his spokesman told reporters Tuesday afternoon, News.Az reports, citing Politico.
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No.10 Downing Street said the Cabinet Office has also referred material to the police after the newly released files appeared to show Mandelson sharing live government policy deliberations with the disgraced financier.
The Metropolitan Police said Monday it is reviewing allegations of misconduct in a public office.
Starmer’s spokesperson said the Epstein file documents “contain likely market sensitive information surrounding the 2008 financial crash and official activities thereafter to stabilize the economy.”
“Only people operating in an official capacity had access to this information, [with] strict handling conditions to ensure it was not available to anyone who could potentially benefit from it financially,” the spokesperson said, adding: “It appears these safeguards were compromised.”
Mandelson, a former Labour Cabinet minister who twice had to resign from Tony Blair’s government, was given a seat in the House of Lords by Gordon Brown in 2008 — a move which allowed Brown to appoint him as business secretary.
