Peter Mandelson quits Lords as UK Government refers Epstein leak fears to police

The Cabinet Office has contacted police over fears disgraced peer Lord Mandelson leaked information about the economy to Jeffrey Epstein.

The news comes as the former Labour MP quits the Lords.

The new Lord Speaker, ex-Scottish secretary Michael Forsyth, said Mandelson will step down tomorrow, a move which follows a leave of absence.

Earlier today the prime minister told cabinet ministers the law may have to change to remove his peerage.

The UK Government referred material to the Metropolitan Police this morning after a cache of documents released by authorities in the US showed correspondence between Mandelson, who was then business secretary, and the paedophile financier, who has since died.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said an “initial review of the documents” found it appears that “likely market sensitive information” was passed from Mandelson to Epstein around the time of the 2008 financial crash.

The spokesperson said “only people operating in an official capacity had access to this information”, and “strict handling conditions” were in force “to ensure it was not available to anyone who could potentially benefit from it financially”.

“It appears these safeguards were compromised. In light of this information the Cabinet Office has referred this material to the police,” they added.

The allegations against Mandelson dominated this morning’s cabinet meeting, coming top of the agenda.

Keir Starmer told ministers he is “appalled” by the revelations, and said there may be more to come. A statement said: “He [Starmer] said the alleged passing on of emails of highly sensitive government business was disgraceful, adding that he was not reassured that the totality of the information had yet emerged.”

The prime minister told the cabinet that Mandelson, who has now left the Labour Party, should no longer hold a peerage and asked for a review of “all available information” on his contact with Epstein during his time as a government minister.

Starmer said the government would cooperate fully with police and Mandelson, who he appointed as ambassador to the US, had “let his country down” and damaged trust in politics.

A statement said: “The prime minister said Peter Mandelson had let his country down. He added the public don't really see individuals in this scandal, they see politicians. For the public to see politicians saying they can't recall receiving significant sums of money or not was just gobsmacking – causing them to lose faith in all politicians and weaken trust still further. The prime minister said that was why moving quickly in this matter was vital.”