The move follows Keir Starmer’s vow to change the law to remove the former UK ambassador to Washington from the House of Lords
Peter Mandelson will step down from the UK’s House of Lords following new revelations linking him to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The former British ambassador to Washington informed parliamentary authorities on Tuesday of his intention to retire from the unelected upper chamber, Speaker of the House of Lords Michael Forsyth confirmed in a statement, reported Politico.
Mandelson’s announcement comes hours after No. 10 Downing Street said it would draft legislation to remove him from the Lords “as quickly as possible.”
No.10 Downing Street said the Cabinet Office has also referred material to the police after newly released files from the U.S. Department of Justice appeared to show Mandelson sharing live government policy deliberations with the disgraced financier.
The Metropolitan Police said Monday that it is reviewing allegations of misconduct in a public office.
A spokesperson for Starmer noted that the Epstein file documents “contain likely market sensitive information surrounding the 2008 financial crash and official activities thereafter to stabilise the economy.”
“Only people operating in an official capacity had access to this information, [with] strict handling conditions to ensure it was not available to anyone who could potentially benefit from it financially,” Politico quoted spokesperson as saying, adding, “It appears these safeguards were compromised.”
Mandelson, a former Labour Cabinet minister who twice resigned from Tony Blair’s government, was appointed to the House of Lords by Gordon Brown in 2008, allowing him to serve as business secretary.
More recently, Mandelson was made UK ambassador to the United States under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as part of efforts to strengthen ties with the Trump administration.
He was sacked last year after the release of US Department of Justice files shed new light on his friendship with convicted sex offender Epstein.
The former ambassador resigned from the Labour Party on Sunday, but Starmer faces growing pressure to take further action.
Starmer “regards it as ridiculous that a peerage cannot be removed, except with primary legislation, something that has not happened since 1917,” his spokesman said Tuesday.
Downing Street has called for cross-party support to modernise the unelected chamber. Currently, peers can retire but cannot be forcibly removed.
With inputs from agencies
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