Former prime minister Gordon Brown has warned that the Labour Party will pay a “heavy price” if Sir Keir Starmer does not “clean up the system” in the wake of the Peter Mandelson scandal.
Starmer has faced mounting calls to step down – including from Labour MPs – over his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US in December 2024, despite his known links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Prime Minister has insisted that Mandelson lied to him about the extent of his relationship with Epstein, saying: “None of us knew the depths and the darkness of that relationship.”
While Brown acknowledged it was a “mistake” for Starmer to appoint Mandelson, he told the BBC that the Prime Minister was a “man of integrity” who had been “misled” and “betrayed” by the Labour peer.
Asked if Starmer should continue leading the country, Brown said the Mandelson scandal was “obviously serious” and the “task is very clear”.
He continued: “We’ve got to clean up the system…and end the corruption and unethical behaviour. And if we don’t do it, we’ll pay a heavy price.”
Brown said Starmer may have “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 – and I believe [he] will try – to clean up the system”.
Mandelson and Epstein’s close ties were revealed by email exchanges released last week by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), which formed part of its criminal investigation into the late disgraced financier.
Among the files was an email exchange in which Mandelson discussed with Epstein that Brown would be stepping down as prime minister hours before the resignation was announced.
Mandelson also appeared to have sent Epstein a 2009 memo from Brown’s policy adviser Nick Butler about the UK’s struggling economy, recommending that he sell off Government-held assets to raise public funds.
The pair also appeared to discuss a €500bn EU bailout package one day before it was announced.
Brown said Mandelson’s alleged disclosure of sensitive information to the financier amounted to a “betrayal of his country”.
He added the communications “meant Britain was at risk because of that, the currency was at risk, some of the trading that would happen would be speculative as a result of that and there’s no doubt that huge commercial damage could have been done and perhaps was done”.
Brown told the BBC he felt “shocked, sad, angry, betrayed, let down” by the emails.
Turning to Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, he said the peer’s alleged lies about his ties to Epstein were “not sufficient explanation for what happened”.
“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,” he said.
Downing Street has braced for further backlash next week when the first of thousands of documents are due to be published, including emails, WhatsApps and text messages, from both before and after Mandelson was appointed as ambassador to the US.
The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into Mandelson over allegations he passed on market-sensitive Government information to the convicted sex offender.
The force also said it concluded its search of two properties linked to Mandelson in Wiltshire and north London on Saturday, following allegations of misconduct in public office.
Brown and Mandelson arrive at the Saatchi Gallery in London in 2010 (Photo: Dan Kitwood/WPA Pool/Getty Images)The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have both urged the UK financial regulators to investigate Mandelson over the alleged leaks of sensitive information.
The Conservatives urged HMRC to investigate a “potential cash for leaks scandal”, pointing to bank records released by the DoJ showing that Epstein had sent $75,000 (£54,750) to accounts linked to Mandelson and his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
Lord Mandelson has said he has “no recollection” of receiving the sums of money noted in the documents and did not know whether the records were authentic.
From 2003 to 2004, bank records indicated that Epstein made three payments totalling $75,000 to accounts connected to Mandelson or his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Mandelson has said he does not recall receiving any such funds and has pledged to examine whether the documents are genuine.
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Separate documents released by the DoJ indicate that Epstein sent da Silva £10,000 to pay for an osteopathy course.
This week, Mandelson told The Times: “In retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgement for Reinaldo to accept this offer.”
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper wrote a letter to the Financial Conduct Authority, seen by The Guardian, which said it was “crucial” to determine whether Mandelson or those he shared information with had profited from accessing “market-sensitive and confidential material”.
Mandelson has previously expressed his regret for his association with Epstein and apologised “unequivocally to the women and the girls who suffered”.
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