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Sir Keir Starmer will publish some messages about Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US to head off a parliamentary ambush, as the government reels from revelations about the former cabinet minister’s links to Jeffrey Epstein.
The prime minister has sought to take the initiative ahead of an attempt by the Conservative party on Wednesday to use a “humble address” in parliament to force ministers to release messages, emails and documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment last year.
The Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday that it had begun an investigation into Mandelson over possible misconduct in public office, hours after he quit the House of Lords.
Documents released by the US Department of Justice over the weekend show that Mandelson, while business secretary, leaked sensitive financial information from the top of government to Epstein, the child sex offender, who had paid him $75,000 several years earlier.
Many MPs are now questioning why Starmer gave Mandelson the plum diplomatic role last year when it had already been reported that the New Labour veteran was a close friend of Epstein months earlier.
Health secretary Wes Streeting on Wednesday said that whether or not Mandelson’s behaviour met the criminal threshold for the police to act, it was clear that his actions were “jaw-droppingly stupid and outrageous”.
“What we have seen . . . is a gross betrayal of two prime ministers, of our country’s national interest, of Epstein’s victims, those women and girls who would not be believed as they campaigned for justice, and it’s a betrayal of our values,” he told the BBC, referring to Starmer and Gordon Brown.
The Tories drew up their humble address to force the government to disclose “all papers relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment”, including Cabinet Office due diligence and the peer’s “conflict of interest form” sent to the Foreign Office.
The official opposition party is seeking material related to Mandelson’s advisory company Global Counsel, including his work in relation to China and Russia and his links to Epstein.
The humble address also asks for any emails between Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff and a long-standing political ally of Mandelson, as well as minutes of all meetings between the peer and ministers during his time as ambassador.
Starmer and his most senior ministers are set to accept that motion, albeit with some major exceptions. An amendment from Starmer and his chief secretary Darren Jones adds the proviso “except papers prejudicial to UK national security or international relations”.
Conservative chair Kevin Hollinrake said the documents were likely to reveal insights into Starmer’s judgment.
“The reality is Keir Starmer knew he was appointing one of the dodgiest people in politics to the role of ambassador to the US . . . [Starmer] knew of his relationship with Epstein and he still pushed ahead,” he said.
Mandelson’s position is that he has not acted in any way criminally and was not motivated by financial gain, according to the BBC.
Streeting said Mandelson was given the Washington job, from which he was sacked last September, because of his political experience and track record as an EU trade commissioner.
“Those skills were felt to be needed in Washington at a time when our relationship with the US is particularly sensitive,” he said.
The emails in the DoJ data dump showed Mandelson passing to Epstein details of a €500bn bailout of the Eurozone and a Downing Street memo setting out secret loans for a £20bn asset sale and tax changes, while he was both business secretary and de facto deputy prime minister in 2009 and 2010.
Before Mandelson quit the Lords on Wednesday — although he maintains his title — Downing Street said Starmer had directed officials to draft emergency legislation to remove him from parliament’s upper chamber.