Plaid Cymru calls for police probe into Lord Mandelson’s links with Jeffrey Epstein

Plaid Cymru has joined calls for a formal police investigation into Lord Mandelson, as pressure grows on the former cabinet minister over his links to convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The party’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP, said the allegations now in the public domain were “profoundly serious” and could not be dealt with through internal party processes alone.

“The latest revelations relating to Peter Mandelson are profoundly serious and cannot be brushed aside as a political embarrassment or left to internal party discipline,” she said.

“Losing the Labour whip alone does not deliver accountability for a scandal of this gravity.

“The evidence now in the public domain raises serious questions about the handling of sensitive information while Mandelson held senior public office, and intensify questions about the nature of his relationship with a convicted paedophile.

“Where there is a credible basis to suspect potential misconduct in public office, the response must be independent, transparent and rigorous.

“In the interests of public confidence and the integrity of public office, I am joining calls for a formal police investigation. No individual who has held high office should be beyond proper scrutiny, and the public deserves clear answers.”

Her intervention comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Lord Mandelson should quit the House of Lords, following the release of documents by the US Department of Justice which appear to show sensitive government information being passed to Epstein while Mandelson was a senior minister in Gordon Brown’s government.

Downing Street confirmed Sir Keir had asked Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald to carry out an urgent review into Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein during his time in office.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown has also called for a wider inquiry, saying the disclosure of “confidential and market-sensitive information” during the global financial crisis was “wholly unacceptable”.

The documents suggest Epstein received internal government discussions, including information on banking policy, asset sales and bailout plans.

Banker’s bonuses 

In one exchange from December 2009, Mandelson appears to say he was lobbying to amend a tax on bankers’ bonuses, while other emails suggest he encouraged senior bankers to pressure ministers.

The Liberal Democrats and the SNP have also backed calls for a police investigation into potential misconduct in public office. Cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson described the allegations as “as serious as it gets” and said that if there was evidence of criminality, it should be pursued.

Lord Mandelson, who has taken a leave of absence from the Lords, resigned his Labour Party membership on Sunday night and is facing a party disciplinary process.

In his resignation letter, he said allegations of historic financial payments were false but required investigation, and apologised to victims of abuse linked to Epstein.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said Sir Keir believed Mandelson should not remain a member of the House of Lords, though he lacks the power to remove a peerage without new legislation.