Peter Mandelson needs to be banned from returning to the Home of Lords, as he would “damage” the higher chamber’s status, Harriet Harman has warned.
It follows Lord Mandelson being sacked because the UK’s ambassador to the US, over revelations about his friendship with convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The prime minister fired the Labour peer final week after “new information” got here to mild, which, he stated, meant Mandelson’s relationship with the Epstein was “materially different” to what was recognized when he was appointed.
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Peter Mandelson was sacked over new particulars about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
However Sir Keir has confronted criticism for his dealing with of the scandal, with Lord Mandelson’s sacking coming lower than 24 hours after he defended him within the Commons.
Now, Baroness Harman – additionally a Labour peer – has warned Lord Mandelson shouldn’t be allowed to sit down within the Lords when he returns to the UK, regardless of him being a peer since 2008.
He’s presently on a go away of absence from the chamber, however can apply to be readmitted in three months.
Talking to a particular episode of the Electoral Dysfunction x Trump100 podcast, the previous deputy Labour chief stated: “I believe there needs to be a course of, however truly, I do not suppose he enhances the status of the Home of Lords.
“I think he would damage it. I think he’s got a talent of reinventing himself and reappearing after scandals. But I think this time, that’s got to be it.”
Lord Mandelson was fired from cupboard twice within the 2000s, however managed to bounce again each instances. It means his sacking by Sir Keir is the third time he has been dismissed amid a scandal.
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3:20
What did PM find out about Mandelson?
Baroness Harman additionally informed Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby, and US correspondent Mark Stone, that she is stunned Lord Mandelson made it into the Lords within the first place.
She stated on the podcast: “It’s quite paradoxical, looking at the dates, that he managed to get past the House of Lords vetting in 2008, because that’s when [then prime minister] Gordon Brown nominated him from the Lords.
“By that point, Jeffrey Epstein had already been convicted and Peter Mandelson was already a long-standing pal of his. So it actually raises questions concerning the first vetting of the Home of Lords in 2008.”
Downing Avenue has insisted the vetting course of is carried out by departments and isn’t shared.
‘I do not know him’
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‘I could not imagine Trump’s reply to my query’
Rigby requested Donald Trump about his relationship with Lord Mandelson throughout his state go to to the UK on Thursday.
He responded: “I don’t know him, actually.”
That is regardless of images of the pair collectively within the Oval Workplace of the White Home.
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Mandelson and Trump in Could. Pic: Reuters
Sir Keir picked up, saying that the scenario is “very straightforward” and that he “made a decision about it, and that’s very clear”.
Lord Mandelson has been formally stripped of one other title this week – Hull Metropolis Council formally revoked his function as excessive steward of the town in an emergency movement handed on Thursday. He had held the title for 12 years.
