KEMI BADENOCH ERUPTS OVER MANDELSON SCANDAL: LABOUR COVER-UP EXPOSED. K1

Darren Jones MP is giving a statement to the Commons on Jeffrey Epstein.

Responding to news that Lord Peter Mandelson leaked confidential and privileged information while he served as business secretary during Gordon Brown’s premiership, Mr Brown says: “I have today asked the Cabinet Secretary to investigate the disclosure of confidential and market sensitive information from the then Business Department during the global financial crisis.

“On September 10 last year, I wrote to the Cabinet Secretary to ask him to investigate the veracity of information contained in the Epstein papers about the sale of assets arising from the banking collapse and communications about them between Lord Mandelson and Mr Epstein.

“That enquiry led to a response on November 19 that no departmental record could be found of any information or communication from Lord Mandelson to Mr Epstein on these issues.

“Given the shocking new information that has come to light in the latest tranche of Epstein papers, including information about the transfer to Mr Epstein of at least one highly sensitive government document as well as other highly confidential information, I have now written to ask for a wider and more intensive enquiry to take place into the wholly unacceptable disclosure of government papers and information during the period when the country was battling the global financial crisis.

“Given the public interest in this, I have asked that the results of the enquiry be published and done so as soon as possible.”

Migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel for the first time in 13 days.

Pictures show people in lifejackets and coats disembarking a Border Force boat in Ramsgate, Kent, today.

The Port of Ramsgate is being used for migrant arrivals while maintenance work takes place at Dover, it is understood.

Monday’s crossing is the first since January 19 when 275 people made the journey.

Only 933 migrants arrived after crossing the Channel last month, the lowest January figure in five years.

The LibDems have said Mandelson should be investigated by the police for potential misconduct in public office.

The call comes specifically in response to emails from the Epstein files regarding his suggestion that the boss of JP Morgan threaten the then-Chancellor to avoid a tax on bankers’ bonuses (see last blog update), and other market-sensitive leaks to Epstein giving him a heads up that the Labour government was looking at selling off assets.

LibDem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The Epstein files suggest Peter Mandelson leaked sensitive government information to a convicted sex offender while serving as a minister, and even suggested a US bank should threaten the Government to lower its tax bill.

“These allegations are incredibly serious, it is now only right that the police investigate Peter Mandelson for potential misconduct in public office.”

Peter Mandelson told the boss of JP Morgan to “threaten” the then-Chancellor Alastair Darling in response to a planned tax on bankers’ bonuses during the financial crash.

Fresh emails from the Epstein Files show that Mr Mandelson secretly advised Jamie Dimon to call Mr Darling, which records show did take place a few days later.

The emails from the then-Business Secretary are further astonishing evidence of Mr Mandelson’s time in government.

Lord Mandelson leaked confidential Downing Street documents to Jeffrey Epstein when he was business secretary.

The peer forwarded an economic briefing for Gordon Brown, the prime minister at the time, to Epstein in 2009, captioning it: “Interesting note that’s gone to the PM.”

The exchange has prompted calls for a criminal investigation into his behaviour and raises questions about whether Lord Mandelson may have committed misconduct in a public office by sending commercially sensitive government documents to the convicted paedophile.

Sir Keir Starmer believes Lord Mandelson should no longer sit in Parliament following further revelations about the peer’s links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords or use the title.

“However, the Prime Minister does not have the power to remove it.”

Stripping Lord Mandelson of his peerage should be “looked at” if he is “convicted of committing crimes,” Kemi Badenoch has said.

Speaking during a visit to Harrow, north-west London, the Tory leader said: “If he’s convicted of committing crimes, I think yes, that is something that should be looked at.”

She questioned “how he came to be appointed in the first place”, adding that “there are vetting procedures which would have stopped him from ever being appointed”.

Mrs Badenoch added: “It looks like Number 10 waved these away, and we’ve been pushing to get the files released.

“Labour have been covering this up.

“It is now time for us to look into that, and we will explore every possible avenue to make sure we understand how it was that the Prime Minister allowed himself and the Government to be embroiled in this scandal.”

The Liberal Democrats said Lord Mandelson should be stripped of his peerage over his links with Jeffrey Epstein.

Leader Sir Ed Davey said: “It’s time now for the Government to take immediate action by bringing forward legislation to strip Peter Mandelson of his peerage. It is the very least they can do for the victims and survivors of his friend Jeffrey Epstein.

“If Mandelson has any shame left he will retire from the House of Lords today while this process gets under way.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has demanded a “full Cabinet Office investigation” into whether Lord Mandelson and his husband took money from Jeffrey Epstein while he was a minister.

Bank statements appear to show Lord Mandelson received £75,000 from Epstein, although the former ambassador to the US insists he had “no record and no recollection of receiving these sums and do not know if the documents are authentic”.

Mrs Badenoch said: “Enough is enough. We need a full Cabinet Office investigation into how Mandelson and his husband took money from the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein while he was a Labour minister, and why Mandelson was appointed ambassador in the first place.

“Keir Starmer told me that he had full confidence in Peter Mandelson before having to sack him as ambassador.

“The PM has consistently looked the other way when it comes to Mandelson’s past, even avoiding proper vetting.

“Just yesterday he let Mandelson resign his own Labour membership rather than acting.

“If Starmer lacks the backbone to order this investigation, then it will be all the more clear that he bears full responsibility for bringing Mandelson back into British public life despite knowing about the relationship with Epstein.”

Green leader Zack Polanski said he would only debate Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in response to a letter from the party’s head of policy Zia Yusuf.

Zia Yusuf has challenged Green leader Zack Polanski to a televised debate in Manchester this week ahead of the crunch by-election.

Reform UK’s head of policy insisted the Greens “owe it to the public to engage seriously on the substantive detail of your policy platform”.

In a letter to Mr Polanski, Mr Yusuf said he would be campaigning in Gorton and Denton on Thursday and invited him to take part in a head-to-head debate.

Sir Keir Starmer has suggested former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner could make a political comeback.

She resigned as deputy PM, housing secretary and Labour’s deputy leader in September in a row over her tax affairs.

The Prime Minister told Times Radio: “I would like to have Angela back at the right point. I’ve always been clear she has a future role to play.

“She played a huge part in the achievement that we got at the last election; getting elected, we’ve just passed the Employment Rights Act, which has got her fingerprints all over it.”

Asked whether Lord Mandelson should remain a member of the House of Lords, government minister Olivia Bailey told Times Radio: “The reality of the removal of a peerage is a complicated one. You have to have been, I believe, sent to jail for over 12 months or an Act of Parliament needs to be passed.

“But… Peter Mandelson has said that he does not intend he is, he is. He is not currently in the House of Lords and I do understand that he does not intend to return.”

Lord Mandelson is currently on a leave of absence from the Lords.

Pressed if she was comfortable with him remaining a member of the upper chamber, Ms Bailey said: “I think it’s clear that he has questions to answer. He will account for those.

“It is right that he’s not a member of the party. He is not currently sitting in the House of Lords.”

Lord Mandelson has “questions to answer” over his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, a government minister has said.

Education minister Olivia Bailey told Times Radio she was “pleased” Lord Mandelson had resigned from the Labour Party.

“There were clearly questions that Peter Mandelson would need to answer. He’s taken this decision, it’s the right decision,” she said.

The Conservatives called for a “full and thorough independent investigation” into Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, after his resignation from the Labour Party.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Lord Mandelson is completely disgraced. Yet Keir Starmer lacked the backbone to take action, allowing Mandelson to resign from the Labour Party instead of kicking him out.

“Keir Starmer and his chief of staff appointed Mandelson ambassador despite his relationship with Epstein, and then refused to act even as the mountain of evidence against him grew.

“Given the Prime Minister’s appalling lack of judgment and the participation of his Downing Street operation, there must now be a full and thorough independent investigation.”