The UK Foreign Office is reviewing a severance payment to former US envoy Peter Mandelson, sacked over links to Jeffrey Epstein, amid a police probe.
LONDON: The UK Foreign Office has launched a review into a severance payment made to former US ambassador Peter Mandelson (pic), who was sacked over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson received an estimated pay-out of between £38,750 and £55,000 after only seven months as British ambassador to the United States, according to a Sunday Times report.
The review follows the release of US Justice Department documents which appear to show Mandelson allegedly leaked confidential UK government information to the late Epstein.
The documents suggest the leaks occurred when Mandelson was a British minister, including during the 2008 financial crisis.
The revelation has triggered a police investigation into Mandelson for alleged misconduct in a public office.
It has also placed intense pressure on Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who appointed Mandelson to the prestigious diplomatic post.
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden insisted Starmer should remain in office despite his “terrible mistake” in the appointment.
“He should be realistic and accept that this has been a terrible story, that this appointment was a terrible mistake,” McFadden told BBC television.
He said the real blame lay “squarely with Peter Mandelson”, who put himself forward for the job despite knowing the extent of his relationship with Epstein.
Starmer’s deputy, David Lammy, had reportedly not been in favour of appointing Mandelson due to his known Epstein links, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
Mandelson, a pivotal figure in British politics for decades, stood down from the House of Lords earlier this week.
He was fired by Starmer in September following an earlier release of Epstein documents.
A spokesperson for Mandelson’s law firm said he “regrets, and will regret until to his dying day, that he believed Epstein’s lies about his criminality”.
“Lord Mandelson did not discover the truth about Epstein until after his death in 2019,” the law firm stated.