Police are reviewing reports of alleged misconduct in a public office after Lord Mandelson was accused of passing on sensitive government information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It comes after the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Reform UK said they had reported the peer to police, while the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and some Labour MPs have also called for the police to investigate.
Email exchanges released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) appear to show Lord Mandelson forwarded on information to the disgraced financier when he was business secretary under Gordon Brown in 2009.
Lord Mandelson has not responded to requests for comment about the allegations.
Metropolitan Police commander Ella Marriott said: “We are aware of the further release of millions of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein by the United States Department of Justice.
“Following this release and subsequent media reporting, the Met has received a number of reports relating to alleged misconduct in a public office. The reports will all be reviewed to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.
“As with any matter, if new and relevant information is brought to our attention we will assess it, and investigate as appropriate.”
A government spokesperson said: “It is rightly for the police to determine whether to investigate and the government stands ready to provide whatever support and assistance the police need.”
Earlier, Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer believes Lord Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords or use his title.
However, the prime minister’s official spokesman said he did not have the power to directly remove the peer’s title.
Under current arrangements, a new law would be required to remove a peerage.
The government has launched an urgent investigation into Lord Mandelson’s contact with Epstein while he was a government minister.
The peer has been on a leave of absence from the House of Lords since taking up the role of US ambassador in December 2024.
He was sacked from the position last September when further details about his relationship with the disgraced financier were made public.
On Sunday, Lord Mandelson also resigned his Labour membership after four decades as a key figure in the party.
It followed the release of more documents by the US DoJ on Friday, which detailed the extent of his contact with Epstein.
Other emails in the tranche of documents appear to suggest:
- Lord Mandelson advised Epstein in 2009 that the boss of the JP Morgan bank should “mildly threaten” the UK chancellor over a planned tax on bankers’ bonuses
- He gave advance notice to Epstein of a €500bn bailout from the EU to save the Euro
- Epstein made $75,000 (£55,000) in payments to Lord Mandelson in three separate $25,000 transactions in 2003 and 2004
- Epstein sent £10,000 to Lord Mandelson’s partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva in 2009.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said the revelations were “shocking” and must be fully investigated by the UK government and all appropriate authorities.
In a statement, Brown said he had asked the cabinet secretary to investigate the disclosure of confidential and market sensitive information from the business department during the financial crisis.
The former prime minister said he had already asked the cabinet secretary to investigate information in the Epstein files about communications between Lord Mandelson and Epstein on asset sales in September last year.
Brown said no record could be found of such communications and he was now asking for “a wider and more extensive enquiry” on the disclosure of government papers.
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Giving a statement to MPs in the House of Commons earlier, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said: “The undeclared exchange of funds, the passing on of government information, let alone the facts that those exchanges were to a convicted paedophile, are wholly unconscionable.”
He said the government would work with the House of Lords to modernise disciplinary procedures to allow for the removal of peers who had brought the chamber into disrepute.
Jones argued it was better to update procedures so they applied to all peers, rather than introducing complex pieces of legislation for each individual.
Conservative shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said the government “cannot hide from its responsibility in having made Mandelson its ambassador in the first place”, when his relationship with Epstein was known.
A handful of Labour MPs have criticised the government’s handling of the row, according to private messages seen by BBC News.
Outlining the government’s position in a WhatsApp group for Labour MPs, a Number 10 official said: “It’s right that Peter Mandelson has resigned from the Labour party and had he not done so, the party was actively looking at what action could be taken.”
One Labour MP replied: “That line on Peter Mandelson is no way strong enough.”
Another said: “Agree. Surely had he not resigned the party would have suspended him pending expulsion given the seriousness of conduct.”
