Brown says Starmer leadership crisis is ‘serious’ but PM is ‘man of integrity’

Police are sifting through boxes of evidence removed from Lord Mandelson’s addresses as part of their investigation into alleged misconduct in a public office.

Officers probing accusations relating to the peer’s association with Jeffrey Epstein searched a house near Regent’s Park in central London and a property in Wiltshire on Friday afternoon.

Scotland Yard said inquiries were ongoing following allegations that Lord Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the paedophile financier while he was business secretary in Mr Brown’s government during the financial crisis.

Mr Brown said he regretted giving Lord Mandelson his peerage and bringing him back into the government in 2008, adding that he felt “shocked, sad, angry betrayed, let down” when he saw the Epstein messages released by the US Department of Justice.

Sir Keir’s position is in jeopardy because of his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US despite knowing his friendship with disgraced financier Epstein continued after his conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.

Asked what his message was to the Labour Party about Sir Keir’s future, Mr Brown told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is obviously serious.

“I mean, there’s always speculation. It happened to me, it happened to Tony Blair.

“It happens to everybody about how their future should be gauged.

“But this is serious, and the task is very clear.

“The task is we’ve got to clean up the system, a total clean-up of the system, an end to the corruption and unethical behaviour.

“And if we don’t do it, we’ll pay a heavy price.”

Asked if Sir Keir was the right man to take the country forward, he said: “I can look in his eyes and I can see that he is a man of integrity. He wants to do the right things.

“Perhaps he’s 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 to, and I believe (he) will try, to clean up the system.”

He suggested there should be US-style confirmation hearings for new government ministers and senior appointments.

He said the alleged lies told by Lord Mandelson during his appointment process as US ambassador 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.”

Pressure from within Labour ranks continued to mount on Sir Keir, with left winger Kim Johnson saying his position is “irredeemable”.

She told Times Radio: “I’m sorry, I must have to say that I think his position at this moment in time is irredeemable. I’m sad to say.”

Sir Keir’s former deputy Angela Rayner, who left UK Government last year after a row over her underpayment of stamp duty on a new property, is widely viewed as a potential successor to Sir Keir.

The Times reported that Ms Rayner had told friends she warned Sir Keir not to appoint Lord Mandelson as ambassador because of his links to Epstein, though she is said to not want to be the one who launches a challenge against the Prime Minister.

The Liberal Democrats called on the Financial Conduct Authority to launch an investigation into Lord Mandelson.

In a letter to the City watchdog Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “It is crucial that Mandelson is investigated to see if he or those he leaked information to profited from access to this market sensitive and confidential material.

“He and others must face criminal prosecution if they are found to have abused trading laws for financial benefit.”