Lord Peter Mandelson is facing calls to reveal all he knew about Jeffrey Epstein to US lawmakers, as the peer resigned his membership of the Labour Party to avoid causing it “further embarrassment”.
The Labour peer is featured several times in the more than three million documents released by the US Department of Justice on Friday related to paedophile financier Epstein.
The US house oversight committee is now reportedly set to issue Lord Mandelson with a demand to testify in front of lawmakers in Washington, sources told The Telegraph.
In an email exchange from 2009, Lord Mandelson appeared to tell Epstein he would lobby ministers about a tax on bankers bonuses.
Bank statements from 2003 and 2004 meanwhile appeared to show he received payments totalling 75,000 US dollars from the financier.
Lord Mandelson on Sunday said he had written to Hollie Ridley, general secretary of the Labour Party to say he was resigning his party membership.
Starmer says ‘anybody with information’ should testify
Sir Keir Starmer suggested on Sunday that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who also appeared several times in the latest documents release, should answer questions from US Congress.
Both Andrew and Lord Mandelson are facing increasing pressure from Washington lawmakers to give evidence on the late paedophile financier.
Speaking to reporters on his way back from Japan, the PM said: “In terms of testifying I have always said anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that.”
“You can’t be victim-centred if you’re not prepared to do that,” he added. “Epstein’s victims have to be the first priority.”
Labour peer has ‘questions to answer’ over Epstein links
Lord Mandelson has “questions to answer” over his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, a government minister said as she declined to say she was comfortable with him remaining in Parliament.
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.
But asked whether he should remain a member of the House of Lords she said: “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.
Asked 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.”
Mandelson: ‘I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to Labour’
Lord Mandelson said he had written on Sunday evening to Hollie Ridley, general secretary of the Labour Party to say he was stepping down from his party membership.
In his letter, he said: “I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this.
“Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.
“While doing this I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party.”
Lord Mandelson said: “I want to take this opportunity to repeat my apology to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now.
“I have dedicated my life to the values and success of the Labour Party and in taking my decision, I believe I am acting in its best interests.”
Congress to summon Mandelson to testify in Washington
The US house oversight committee is reportedly set to summon Lord Mandelson to give evidence before Congress on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Sources close to the committee said it was preparing to issue the Labour peer with a demand to testify in Washington, to see if he has any information about the late financier’s co-conspirators.
Documents from the release appear to show Lord Mandelson suggesting to Epstein in 2009 that he would lobby the UK government over the matter of bankers’ bonuses.
Meanwhile, bank statements appear to show the peer received some 75,000 US dollars from Epstein over a period between 2003 and 2004, when he was a Labour MP.
Other emails show them discussing arrangements for Lord Mandelson to stay at Epstein’s houses, despite his conviction for child prostitution in 2008.
Lord Mandelson resigns from Labour Party over Epstein links
The peer, who was sacked as US ambassador last year because of his links to Epstein, featured in documents released by the US Department of Justice on Friday relating to the paedophile financier.
Among them were files that suggested Epstein had made $75,000 in payments to Lord Mandelson between 2003 and 2004, when he was a Labour MP.
Read the full article here:
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk
