Keir Starmer is poised for an uncomfortable day in Parliament as he releases papers on Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is seeking to force the Government to release all documents showing how Lord Mandelson got the Washington job, including messages exchanged with key figures in Sir Keir’s inner circle including chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and top ministers.
Lord Mandelson was sacked in September last year over his links with Jeffrey Epstein and quit the House of Lords yesterday after new emails showed the apparent leaking of sensitive information to the paedophile financier in 2009.
Meanwhile, an exotic dancer demanded $250,000 from Epstein claiming she performed ‘various sex acts’ on him and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, legal documents show.
The unnamed woman claims to have been chauffeured to a 2006 party at Epstein’s Palm Beach home where she says she danced for the men before they asked her for a ‘threesome’.
Follow the latest updates on the Epstein files
Exotic dancer demanded $250,000 amid claims she performed for Epstein and Andrew
by Inderdeep Bains
An exotic dancer demanded $250,000 from Jeffrey Epstein claiming she performed ‘various sex acts’ on the disgraced financier and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, legal documents show.
The unnamed woman claims to have been chauffeured to a 2006 party at Epstein’s Palm Beach home where she says she danced for the men before they asked her for a ‘threesome’.
The shocking claim has been unearthed by the Daily Mail in a tranche of more than three million Epstein-related documents released by the US Department of Justice.
The massive disclosure on Friday has once again thrown scrutiny on Andrew’s embarrassing ties to Epstein – links that have already seen him stripped of his titles.
In a letter dated March 23, 2011, the woman’s lawyer alleged that the billionaire had breached his oral contract by failing to pay her the $10,000 promised for performing at a party at his Florida home.
Andrew evicted from Royal Lodge after latest release of Epstein files
Now let’s turn our attention to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor following sensational developments overnight
by Rebecca English and Noor Qurashi
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been booted out of Royal Lodge in the dead of night – as he begins his new chapter on the King’s Sandringham Estate.
The former Duke of York was told to leave his stately home earlier than expected after his brother King Charles became increasingly concerned by allegations made against him, it is understood.
It follows the publication of an email on Monday night, released in the latest batch of the Epstein files, where Andrew appeared to tell paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein he wanted to be his ‘pet’.
Police also announced on Tuesday they would assess claims Epstein trafficked a second woman to the UK to have sex with the disgraced former Prince.
Andrew is now believed to have vacated his £30million, 31-room Royal Lodge – three months after handing back his lease.
He was driven 132 miles to Sandringham and transported ‘under the cover of darkness’.
‘National embarrassment’: Badenoch hits out at Mandelson hire ahead of PMQs showdown
Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir Starmer should provide evidence to the police in their Lord Mandelson investigation if required, as she called the affair a ‘national embarrassment’.
The Tory leader told Sky News the launch of the criminal investigation was ‘inevitable’ but ‘should not let this distract us from the fact that the Prime Minister has his fingerprints all over this’.
She said:
I think the Prime Minister has a lot of questions to answer, and not just him, but his chief of staff, and all the people in No 10 who pushed this appointment.
I think it is a national embarrassment. There are many people who should have been given that job, or who should have been interviewed for that job, and they didn’t get a chance.
Asked whether police should interview Sir Keir, Mrs Badenoch said:
I think the police will make that call. But if there is evidence that shows that there is something to do with the Prime Minister, then, of course, yes.
Epstein ‘asked for special permission to see Mandelson weeks after prison release’
by Nick Fagge
Paedophile Jeffrey Epstein asked for special permission to meet a British education minister – believed to be Peter Mandelson – just weeks after the US financier had been released from jail for abusing underage girls, it has emerged.
Epstein was placed under house arrest at his Palm Beach mansion when he was released from jail in July 2009 after serving 13 months for procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution.
The convicted sex offender had to apply to a circuit judge to obtain permission to travel outside of the state of Florida.
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Coldbath granted the financier’s request to fly to New York on 3rd December 2009 to meet with his lawyers to discuss other legal claims filed against him.
But the judge denied Epstein’s request to fly to New York on December 12th, 2009, to meet with Mandelson, who, it is believed, he wrongly identified in his request as the ‘undersecretary of education to the prime minister of Great Britain’, new documents have revealed.
Evidence that damns Lord Mandelson as Met Police launch criminal probe
by Jason Groves and Sam Merriman
Scotland Yard began a full criminal investigation into Peter Mandelson on Tuesday.
The move followed more damning revelations about the ex-Labour grandee’s relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
While he was a Cabinet minister, the former spin doctor repeatedly tipped off the tycoon about market-sensitive government plans, emails suggest.
On Tuesday, the Government and ex-prime minister Gordon Brown got in touch with the Metropolitan Police, leaving the peer facing an unprecedented probe.
It came as the Daily Mail uncovered further sensational details about Lord Mandelson’s dealings with Epstein, with whom he remained close even after the financier had been jailed for child sex offences.
One bombshell email seemingly showed the pair discussing confidential negotiations over a £10billion Ministry of Defence contract while Lord Mandelson was business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.
Starmer faces Labour ‘cover-up’ claims as he fights to avoid releasing Mandelson files
Let’s start by looking at our main political story of the morning…
by James Tapsfield
Keir Starmer is fighting to dodge revealing damaging details of Lord Mandelson’s influence and vetting today amid Labour ‘cover-up’ claims.
The government has bowed to Tory demands to publish a huge range of material about the disgraced former ambassador, amid fears of defeat in a crunch Commons vote later.
However, Sir Keir – who faces a bruising PMQs at lunchtime – is trying to add a ‘national security and international relations’ exemption to the commitment, potentially giving ministers a get-out.
Labour MPs are openly saying the tweak is unacceptable this morning, as the government would be able to ‘mark its own homework’.
The stage is set for a dramatic political showdown after police launched a criminal investigation into allegations Lord Mandelson passed market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein while a Cabinet minister.
Starmer set for Mandelson grilling as Epstein fallout rocks Britain
Hello and welcome to the Daily Mail’s live coverage of the Epstein files which have led to one of the biggest political and royal scandals in British history.
Keir Starmer is set for an uncomfortable afternoon in the Commons as he faces a grilling over appointing Lord Peter Mandelson to be Britain’s man in Washington.
Mandelson is quitting the House of Lords today after emails appear to show he leaked sensitive information to Epstein while serving in Gordon Brown’s cabinet.
Meanwhile, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been evicted from his Royal Lodge home as he prepares for exile in Sandringham.
The former Duke of York was stripped of his titles over his association with Epstein with more embarrassing details coming to light following the latest release of documents from the US Department of Justice.
Stick with us throughout the day as we bring you the key developments on the Epstein files.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.