Gordon Brown ‘to talk to Met Police to assist Peter Mandelson investigation’
Met Police detectives are reportedly keen to speak to Gordon Brown about Peter Mandelson, who was arrested in February over allegations of misconduct in public office
Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson pictured in 2010(Image: Getty Images)
Police investigating Peter Mandelson are set to interview Gordon Brown to discuss his former business secretary’s work, it is claimed.
The former Prime Minister will reportedly be invited to speak to the Met Police as part of a probe into whether the disgraced peer passed confidential information to Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson was a member of Mr Brown’s cabinet at the time he is alleged to have shared information with the paedophile financier.
He was arrested in February after documents released by the US State Department suggested he had told his sex offender friend about an EU bailout after the financial crash in 2008. Mandelson is also alleged to have shared confidential information about the state of the UK economy.
He denies any wrongdoing. Emails between the two came to light when thousands of redacted documents were made public earlier this year in the Epstein Files. According to The Telegraph, the Met are keen to speak to Mr Brown as efforts to get the files in full from the FBI have stalled despite informal agreements being in place between the two countries.
The former Prime Minister is understood to be willing to co-operate with the investigation. But The Mirror understands there has not yet been any contact about an interview between the Met and Mr Brown.
Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to Washington in September last year after new revelations about his relationship with Epstein. Messages between the two released by US authorities showed he corresponded Epstein through “years of torture” over underage sex charges. In 2008 the Labour veteran emailed Epstein: “Your friends stay with you and love you.” And he urged the banker to “fight for early release”.
Further documents released earlier this year appeared to show Mandelson had sent Epstein briefings about government actions during the financial crisis. In 2009 he seemed to have given his friend advance notice about a 500 billion euro bailout by the EU, as well as sharing confidential information about banking policy.
The files also appear to show he sent details of a planned tax on bankers’ bonuses. Keir Starmer has claimed Mandelson lied before his appointment, and it later emerged he had not been given clearance by UK Security Vetting – but this was overruled by officials in the Foreign Office without No10’s knowledge.
Any decision on whether to charge Mandelson would lie with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The Met Police declined to comment on the investigation.
Thousands of pages of documents have been released in relation to Mandelson’s appointment as US Ambassador. These included WhatsApp messages with ministers that were critical of the government.
