Mandelson’s conduct with Epstein ‘far below standard expected’, says minister as Brown calls for inquiry into ‘shocking’ leak - UK politics live

Darren Jones making statement to MPs following Epstein files revelationsPeter Mandelson “leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans”, the Financial Times is reporting.In his story, Jim Pickard says:The memo, dubbed “Business Issues”, was written on June 13 2009 by Nick Butler, who at the time was special adviser to the then prime minister Gordon Brown.The confidential document, which was released by the US Department of Justice as part of a tranche of millions of files relating to Epstein, had been sent to British government officials including cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood.It is right that Peter Mandelson is no longer a member of the Labour party. Disciplinary action was underway prior to his resignation.
Jeffrey Epstein’s heinous crimes destroyed the lives of so many women and girls, and our thoughts remain with his victims. Continue reading...