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MANCHESTER, England (CN) — The U.K. government has supplied material to police examining claims that Peter Mandelson passed sensitive government information to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as Mandelson confirmed Tuesday he is resigning from Parliament.
Mandelson told parliamentary officials he will retire from the House of Lords, the unelected upper chamber of Parliament, on Wednesday.
Downing Street said it has passed a file of evidence to the Metropolitan Police, which is reviewing reports of misconduct in public office.
The review follows the release of emails by the U.S. Department of Justice that suggest Mandelson forwarded internal government briefings to Epstein while serving as business secretary in 2009 under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Emails, payments under scrutiny
The emails appear to show Mandelson sending Epstein briefings on government responses to the global financial crisis.
In 2009, when Mandelson was at the heart of government during the crisis, emails suggest he gave Epstein advance notice on a 500-billion-euro ($590 billion) bailout by the EU and sent him internal U.K. government information on banking policy.
Mandelson also appeared to seek changes to a planned tax on bankers’ bonuses after discussing the issue with Epstein, telling him he was trying to amend the policy despite resistance from the Treasury.
The documents also suggest Mandelson encouraged further lobbying over the policy, with Epstein proposing that JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon contact the U.K. government again, and Mandelson backing the idea, suggesting he “mildly threaten” the British chancellor.
In addition to emails were payments.
U.S. court disclosures also indicate Epstein paid $75,000 into bank accounts of which Mandelson was believed to be a beneficiary.
Epstein also sent Mandelson’s partner, now his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, 10,000 euros in September 2009 to fund an osteopathy course.
The Metropolitan Police said it will examine the emails and consider whether to open a wider investigation.
Mandelson has yet to respond to the latest accusations against him but has acknowledged that his relationship with Epstein was a mistake.
A noble title remains
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the claims were “disgraceful” and that Mandelson had “let his country down.”
The prime minister’s spokesman said Starmer was “appalled by the information that had emerged over the weekend in the Epstein files.”
Starmer said at a cabinet meeting Tuesday that ministers need to move quickly in response to the disclosures.
Under current rules, while Mandelson has resigned from the House of Lords, he cannot give up his peerage — a noble title granted by the monarch that gives the holder the right to sit in the upper chamber of Parliament.
Starmer said he wanted him removed from the Lords along with his peerage title, but lacked the power to do so. Downing Street said it is drafting legislation that would remove the title.
The last time Parliament stripped someone of a peerage was in 1917, when titles were taken from people classed as enemies of the state during World War I.
Mandelson also resigned from the Labour Party on Sunday following the latest batch of released emails.
Mandelson’s decades-long political career has collapsed in less than a year.
He arrived in Washington last February as the British ambassador to the U.S. and was dismissed by Starmer in September 2025 amid growing evidence of his relationship with Epstein.
Now he may face criminal proceedings.
New links to former Prince Andrew, ex-wife
The latest round of disclosures also included further emails involving the former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, deepening evidence of his long relationship with Epstein.
Andrew said in a 2019 BBC interview that he traveled to New York in December 2010 to formally end his relationship with Epstein, who had already served a jail sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
But an email sent after that trip tells a different story.
“It was great to spend time with my US family. Looking forward to joining you all again soon. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Andrew wrote to Epstein.
The latest batch of files also included photographs of Andrew kneeling over a woman lying on the floor.
Andrew was not the only former royal named in the new disclosures.
Emails also showed Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York and Andrew’s ex-wife, remained in contact with Epstein after his conviction.
In one 2009 message, Ferguson described Epstein as “the brother I have always wished for” and shared details of business ideas.
Later that year, she emailed Epstein asking for financial help.
“I urgently need 20,000 pounds for rent today. The landlord has threatened to go to the newspapers if I don’t pay. Any brainwaves?” she wrote.
Lawyers’ letters included in the files refer to deals to pay off her creditors.
One email from Epstein said he had helped Ferguson financially for 15 years.
Ferguson’s charity, Sarah’s Trust, announced it will close for the foreseeable future following the release of the emails.
Courthouse News reporter James Francis Whitehead is based in England.
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