Peter Mandelson Quits House Of Lords Amid Jeffrey Epstein Furore

Peter Mandelson is to quit the House of Lords amid the ongoing scandal over his links to the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The former UK ambassador to Washington has been at the centre of a furore following the release of more documents relating to the billionaire financier by the US Department of Justice.

The files suggested Mandelson had handed confidential information to the disgraced financier when he was business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government between 2008 and 2010.

Keir Starmer told his cabinet on Tuesday morning that Mandelson – who resigned from the Labour Party on Sunday night – had “let his country down”.

In a statement to peers hours later, Lords Speaker Lord Forsyth said: “The clerk of the parliaments has today received notification from Lord Mandelson of his intention to retire from the House, effective from February 4.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “It is right that Peter Mandelson will no longer be a member of the House of Lords.

“As the prime minister said this morning, Peter Mandelson let his country down.”

Despite stepping down from the House of Lords, Mandelson will still retain his formal title.

However, the government is urgently drawing up legislation which will also strip him of that.

The Epstein documents suggest the former cabinet minister told the US financier details about the government’s response to the 2008 financial crash – including the possibility of watering down the bakers’ bonus tax and the EU’s €500bn bailout for the Euro – ahead of time.

Bank statements suggest Mandelson received $75,000 from Epstein in three payments between 2003 and 2004, too.

Mandelson has said he had no record or recollection of receiving those sums of money from Epstein and did not know if the documents were authentic.

One photo in the files shows Mandelson in his underwear next to a woman whose face has been redacted.

According to Sky News, the picture was taken in one of Epstein’s properties.

Being named in the files is not an indication of criminal wrongdoing.

The government, however, announced earlier on Tuesday that it handed documents relating to “market sensitive information” to the Metropolitan Police, who are assessing whether or not Mandelson broke the law.

Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US back in September after it emerged that he had maintained contact with his “best pal” Epstein even after the billionaire was convicted of soliciting a child for prostitution in 2008.

The New Labour grandee has reiterated his regret for “ever having known Epstein” and for continuing to be associated with him after his conviction.

In an interview earlier this week, Mandelson told The Times: “Hiding under a rock would be a disproportionate response to a handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending. If it hadn’t been for the emails, I’d still be in Washington. Emails sent all those years ago didn’t change the relationship that I had with this monster.

“I feel the same about the recent download of Epstein files, none of which indicate wrongdoing or misdemeanour on my part.”