Peter Mandelson can be stripped of peerage below main new legislation after Commons recess
Lord Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords last week amid the scandal over his ties to the billionaire peadophile Jeffrey Epstein. But the Labour veteran retains his peerage title
Lord Peter Mandelson has resigned the Lords – but retains his peerage title(Image: PA)
A new law to strip Peter Mandelson of his peerage title will be brought forward after the Commons recess, a minister has said.
Lord Mandelson – who is subject to a Met Police investigation – resigned from the House of Lords last week amid the scandal over his ties to the billionaire peadophile Jeffrey Epstein. But under current rules, the Labour veteran retains his peerage title.
Facing pressure over Lord Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to Washington – a decision that has rocked Keir Starmer’s government – the PM promised last week to bring forward new legislation to strip him of his peerage title. Updating MPs on Thursday, Cabinet Office minister Chris Ward said the legislation will be published when the Commons return from recess after February 23.
He told the Commons: “On legislation to strip Lord Mandelson of his peerage – and broader reform of the House of Lords and removal – that will come forward as soon as possible. It will be in government time… and we will bring that forward after the recess.”
He also promised the government would publish crucial documents relating to the peer’s appointment to the plum diplomatic posting in Washington “as soon as possible”. Government officials are currently sifting through tens of thousands of documents before handing them to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).
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Mr Ward said today: “The government will comply fully and publish documents as soon as possible. Government departments have been instructed to retain any material that may be relevant and work is underway to identify documents that fall in scope of the motion.”
The documents will contain WhatsApps between government officials and Lord Mandelson around the time of his appointment.
Earlier this week in a bombshell move Health Secretary Wes Streeting published private messages with the Labour veteran he hit back at smears over their relationship. The Health Secretary made the move in a bid to see off attacks over his friendship with the Labour grandee. Mr Streeting told Sky News, who first obtained the messages, that he had “nothing to hide”.
Private messages show him admitting he fears he is “toast at the next election,” that he thinks the government has “no growth strategy at all,” and that Israel is “committing war crimes before our eyes”.
Mr Streeting hit out at “smear and innuendo” over his relationship with Peter Mandelson as he published some of their messages. Over the weekend Mandleson’s representatives said: “Lord Mandelson regrets, and will regret until his dying day, that he believed Epstein’s lies about his criminality.
“Lord Mandelson did not discover the truth about Epstein until after his death in 2019. He is profoundly sorry that powerless and vulnerable women and girls were not given the protection they deserved.”
