Minister denounces Mandelson for interview in which he claims outrage about his Epstein links ‘disproportionate’ – UK politics live

‘It is shameful. It does shame politics,’ said health minister Karin SmythGood morning. Keir Starmer tried to assuage public and political outrage about Lord Mandelson yesterday by saying that he would like to see him kicked out of the House of Lords for good, but that is not enough for the many people saying that the government should pass primary legislation to remove his peerage. One of them is Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, who told Radio 4 this morning a “very short bill” could be passed “today”. As Jessica Elgot and Emine Sinmaz report in our overnight story, it may turn out that Mandelson ultimately gets punished by the criminal justice system, because the police are reviewing the evidence to see if it justifies a full inquiry.Davey is also calling for a public inquiry into Mandelson. Harriet Harman, the former Labour deputy leader, has been saying Mandelson should be kicked off the privy council. I’ll quote more from what they, and others, have been saying about ‘what to do about Mandelson’ shortly.Hiding under a rock would be a disproportionate response to a handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending. If it hadn’t been for the emails, I’d still be in Washington. Emails sent all those years ago didn’t change the relationship that I had with this monster.I feel the same about the recent download of Epstein files, none of which indicate wrongdoing or misdemeanour on my part.I am a New Labour person and always will be, wherever the party situates itself. But I think I want a sea change. I want to be more of an outsider looking in rather than the other way round. I want to contribute ideas that enable Britain to strengthen and to work for all, in every part of the country.Like, sadly, many other men I’ve seen in similar positions over the years, there is a lack of real reality and understanding about the depth of this now demonstrated in that interview.I’m not entirely sure what day that interview took place, but each hour is bringing really shocking and quite astonishing levels of email correspondence that is shocking absolutely everybody. Continue reading...