Police are sifting through boxes of evidence removed from Lord Mandelson’s addresses as part of their investigation into alleged misconduct in a public office, relating to the peer’s association with Jeffrey Epstein.
The Peter Mandelson situation facing Keir Starmer is “serious” and the PM has been “too slow to do the right things”, Gordon Brown has claimed.
The former PM praised Mr Starmer as a “man of integrity” who had been “betrayed” by Lord Mandelson, as the scandal threatened to engulf the Government. Police are sifting through boxes of evidence removed from Lord Mandelson’s addresses as part of their investigation into alleged misconduct in a public office, with officers probing accusations relating to the peer’s association with Jeffrey Epstein.
Asked what his message was to the Labour Party about Mr Starmer’s future, Mr Brown told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is obviously serious. I mean, there’s always speculation. It happened to me, it happened to Tony Blair.
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“It happens to everybody about how their future should be gauged. But this is serious, and the task is very clear. The task is we’ve got to clean up the system, a total clean-up of the system, an end to the corruption and unethical behaviour. And if we don’t do it, we’ll pay a heavy price.”
Asked if the PM was the right man to take the country forward, he said: “I can look in his eyes and I can see that he is a man of integrity. He wants to do the right things. Perhaps he’s been too slow to do the right things, but he must do the right things now, and let’s judge what he does, on what happens in the next few months when he tries to, and I believe (he) will try, to clean up the system.”
He said the alleged lies told by Lord Mandelson during his appointment process as US ambassador were “not sufficient explanation for what happened”. Mr Brown added: “There is a systemic failure to do proper vetting, to go through the proper procedures and to actually have, in my view, what should be public hearings for anybody who is going to be in a senior position representing the British government.”
Scotland Yard said inquiries were ongoing following allegations that Lord Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the paedophile financier while he was business secretary in Mr Brown’s government during the financial crisis.
Mr Brown earlier said he regretted giving Lord Mandelson his peerage and bringing him back into the government in 2008, adding that he felt “shocked, sad, angry betrayed, let down” when he saw the Epstein messages released by the US Department of Justice.
The Liberal Democrats are now calling on the Financial Conduct Authority to launch an investigation into Lord Mandelson.
In a letter to the City watchdog Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “It is crucial that Mandelson is investigated to see if he or those he leaked information to profited from access to this market sensitive and confidential material. He and others must face criminal prosecution if they are found to have abused trading laws for financial benefit.”