Peter Mandelson was on Monday night facing a police probe after being accused of leaking ‘market sensitive’ information to Jeffrey Epstein while in government.
Scotland Yard is reviewing revelations that the architect of New Labour passed on highly sensitive advice given to then-prime minister Gordon Brown.
The email, sent in 2009 at the height of the financial crisis, was on Monday branded a ‘betrayal’ and sparked furious calls for an investigation.
The Metropolitan Police received referrals from both Reform UK and the SNP asking detectives to investigate the peer, who on Sunday quit the Labour Party to avoid causing ‘further embarrassment’.
Another email, part of three million documents released on Friday by the US Department of Justice, saw Lord Mandelson give Epstein advance notice of a €500billion bailout of the Eurozone, potentially allowing the paedophile financier to cash in ahead of the deal being formally announced the following day.
And Mandelson, who now faces calls to quit the Lords, also tipped off his friend the night before Mr Brown resigned from No 10.
In an interview published on Monday, Lord Mandelson claimed that he was ‘too trusting’ of Epstein, who he described as ‘muck that you can’t get off your shoe… Like dog muck, the smell never goes away’.
But he made it clear he has no intention of disappearing from public life, telling The Times: ‘Hiding under a rock would be a disproportionate response to a handful of misguided historical emails, which I regret sending.’
And he said none of the Epstein files ‘indicate wrongdoing or misdemeanour on my part’ as he refused to give evidence to a US Congress inquiry.
Catherine MacLeod, who served as a special adviser to then-Chancellor Alastair Darling, said the leaking of confidential Treasury emails to Jeffrey Epstein during the financial crisis was a ‘betrayal’ in a Radio 4 interview.
Reform said it was ‘abundantly clear’ that Lord Mandelson ‘abused his position in office’ and called on the police to ‘investigate these shocking revelations’.
Meanwhile, Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, said in a letter to Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley that Lord Mandelson’s tenure in Government ‘must now be criminally investigated’.
The Met tonight confirmed it had received reports relating to allegations of misconduct in public office and said detectives were reviewing them to ‘determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation’.
Earlier in the day Gordon Brown said: ‘I have asked the Cabinet Secretary to investigate the disclosure of confidential and market sensitive information from the then Business Department during the global financial crisis.’
He also revealed that on September 10 last – the day Sir Keir Starmer said he had ‘confidence’ in Lord Mandelson as the Epstein scandal swirled once again – he wrote to the Cabinet Secretary, calling for an investigation into the peer but was told no records could be found.
New material appears to show emails were forwarded to Epstein by Lord Mandelson in which key Downing Street aides and ministers discussed a proposed £20billion of asset sales to shore up the country and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans.
This information would have been valuable to any bank or financial institution. The document was forwarded by Lord Mandelson to Epstein with the comment: ‘Interesting note that’s gone to the PM.’
Epstein replied ‘what salable [sic] assets?’ Lord Mandelson responded: ‘Land, property I guess.’ Four months later the government announced a £16billion asset sale.
Meanwhile a series of emails appear to show Epstein used Lord Mandelson to arrange private tours of No10, including for his goddaughter.
In July 2009 Epstein emailed Lord Mandelson: ‘My goddaughter will be in London on wed and thurs [sic] of next week, what can we do to make it a very special trip.’
Lord Mandelson responded by asking ‘how old?’, to which Epstein said: ’15… House of Lords, Number 10, just for ten miniutes [sic].’ Lord Mandelson responded: ‘Fine on all.’
It came after bank statements emerged which suggest Epstein made $75,000 (£55,000) worth of payments to accounts connected to Lord Mandelson between 2003 and 2004.
Separate emails between the two show that in 2009 Epstein wired Lord Mandelson’s now husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, $10,000.
Three months later, Lord Mandelson, then the business secretary, was lobbying ministers on Epstein’s behalf over a proposed tax on bankers’ bonuses.
A few months earlier, in July 2009, Epstein was released from prison having served 13 months for soliciting a minor.
Lord Mandelson was sacked as British ambassador to the US in September after emails between him and Epstein were made public in which he told the paedophile to ‘fight for early release’.
