Peter Mandelson has resigned from the House of Lords after a series of scandalous emails came to light that linked him to the child sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, including ones that apparently leaked confidential UK government communications.
Mandelson appears to have sent a string of emails to Epstein containing briefings he received as business secretary under Gordon Brown, including action the government was taking to deal with the global financial crisis.
Keir Starmer had demanded Mandelson be removed from the Lords and said he hoped the upper chamber would undertake reforms to allow peers to be more easily expelled.
The move was announced by the speaker of the House of Lords on Tuesday.
Mandelson Links to Epstein
Documents released in disclosures by the US Department of Justice also appeared to show that Epstein paid $75,000 into bank accounts of which Mandelson, then a Labour MP, was believed to be a beneficiary.
Epstein sent Mandelson’s partner, now his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, £10,000 in September 2009 to fund an osteopathy course and other expenses.
The cabinet secretary is investigating the apparently leaked emails sent by Mandelson during the last year of Brown’s government, including ones regarding the potential sale of government assets and an early confirmation of a €500bn European bailout. The Metropolitan police has said it will look at the emails and consider a wider investigation.