Starmer says Mandelson has been stripped of role as privy counsellor
Kemi Badenoch says all MPs will be disgusted by the latest Jeffrey Epstein revelations. But the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as an ambassador reflects on the PM’s judgment. Was he aware that Mandelson had continued his friendship with Epstein after Epstein’s first conviction?
Starmer says Mandelson betrayed his country and his party by leaking secrets. He lied before the appointment process. The government has referred him to the police. He says he has asked officials to draft legislation to stop Mandelson of his title.
This morning he has agreed with the king that Mandelson will be removed from the list of privy counsellors.
UPDATE: Starmer said:
To learn that there was a cabinet minister leaking sensitive information at the height of the response to the 2008 crash is beyond infuriating, and I am as angry as the public and any member of this House – Mandelson betrayed our country, our parliament and my party.
He lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador. I regret appointing him.
If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near government.
That is why, yesterday the cabinet secretary, with my support, took the decision to refer material to the police, and there is now a criminal investigation.
I have instructed my team to draft legislation to strip Mandelson of his title and wider legislation to remove disgraced peers, and this morning, I have agreed with His Majesty the King that Mandelson should be removed from the list of privy counsellors on grounds that has brought the reputation of the privy council into disrepute.
Key events
Tories says claims Epstein was Russian asset ‘must be investigated’
Burghart referred to claims that Jeffrey Epstein may have been a Russian asset. He said these were issues that must now now be investigated and investigated very seriously”.
Burghart said a report in the New Statesman today says a due diligence report on Peter Mandelson before he was appointed ambassador highlighted various conflicts of interest.
He is referring to this story by Ailbhe Rea. She says:
The report on Mandelson warned of potential conflicts of interest surrounding Global Counsel, the lobbying company Mandelson co-founded, in which he had a 28 per cent stake (worth about £8.5m). It highlighted the company’s clients, in particular Russian and Chinese links, according to someone familiar with the report’s contents …
And then there was a section on Epstein. Sources familiar with the report confirm that it clearly stated that Mandelson’s relationship with the paedophile continued after his conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution. It contained links to photographs of Mandelson with the paedophile, and drew particular attention to evidence that Mandelson had stayed at Epstein’s apartment while he was in prison. It was sent directly to the prime minister.
The cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald, was asked about the report in November and told MPs that it contained “a summary of reputational risks” associated with appointing Mandelson, including his “prior relationship with Jeffrey Epstein”.
Yet “Morgan [McSweeney, the PM’s chief of staff] was relaxed” when he saw the report, according to one person who observed him at the time, because the chief of staff said that Labour had already broached a conversation with Mandelson about these issues years before. (A No 10 source disputes this characterisation, emphasising that the prime minister and McSweeney followed up on details raised by the report.)
MPs debate Tory motion calling for release of files relating to Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador
MPs are now debating the Tory motion on Peter Mandelson.
Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, started by saying that Keir Starmer knew full well about Peter Mandelson’s ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein’s first child sex conviction. He says, not only had the FT published it; journalists had even told Starmer about it, he says.
I have beefed up some of the earlier posts with direct quotes from the Starmer/Badenoch exchanges. You may need to refresh the page to get the updates to appear.
PMQs – snap verdict
That felt like a preview of the debate that is just starting now. And it may even turn out to be spikier, which is being opened by Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister. Keir Starmer is on the defensive, he knows it, and he came armed with at least two nuggets of news intended to blunt the Tory attack: an announcement about Peter Mandelson adding the privy counsel to the list of organisations that has know kicked him out, and a reference to the police warning Downing Street about the risk of prejudicial material being disclosed. The latter was a not-so-subtle hint to MPs about the danger of passing the Tory motion about the release of Mandelson files without the Labour amendment exempting some documents.
But none of this was enough to blunt the force of Badenoch’s main point – which was that appointing Mandelson as an ambassador when he knew that Mandelson had remained friends with Jeffrey Epstein after his first child sex conviction was a colossal mistake.
And of course Starmer knew. It had been in the Financial Times.
Given that Starmer himself now realises what a terrible error appointing Mandelson was, it is not surprising that Badenoch’s arguments about this carried the day.
David Davis, the former Tory cabinet minster, says today’s debate on Peter Mandelson will not covere his relationship with Oleg Deripaska. He says this was just as bad as the relationship with Jeffrey Epstein because Deripaska is also an alleged paedophile, murderer, gangster, specialist in bribery and corruption, and Putin favourite. He says that, as EU trade commissioner, Mandelson took decisions that favoured Deripaska’s companies.
Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, says Davis is an experienced MP and will be able to find other ways of raising this.
Suella Braverman, the former Tory home secretary who defected to Reform UK, gets the final question. She asks about a rape gang survivor. Her first rapist was convicted. But she was then abused by a police officer who remains on active service, she says. She asks if the PM will meet the survivor to hear her story.
Starmer says he is “deeply concerned” about what Braverman has said, and he will arrange a meeting.
Christine Jardine (Lib Dem) asks if helpline will be set up to support women triggered by the Jeffrey Epstein stories.
Starmer says the govenment is continuing its work on tackling violence against women and girls.
Layla Moran (Lib Dem) says her residents in Oxford West and Abingdon are sick of being let down by Thames Water. Will he admit that Thames Water should be “put out of its misery” and turned into a company for public benefit.
Starmer says if necessary the government will go further in taking control over the company.
Neil Hudson (Con) asks about migrants being housed in the Bell hotel in his Epping constituency.
Starmer says the government is committed to ending the use of all asylum hotels.
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