A former Treasury adviser tells Paste BN that the apparent leaks of government information by Peter Mandelson to Jeffrey Epstein "beggars belief".

Catherine MacLeod, who was a special adviser to the then-chancellor Alistair Darling, says: "The country, the government were facing a very difficult financial crisis. It was working hard, fighting hard to emerge from it with the economy intact. That's what they were trying to do.

"So I can't imagine that there were any conversations or deliberations that would be more sensitive than was happening at the time."

Baroness MacLeod tells Wilfred Frost that Darling, who died in 2023, would be "absolutely shocked to the core... at the scale of this treachery".

Asked whether Lord Mandelson could be prosecuted for sharing market sensitive information, she says:  "Insider trading is an offence and whether or not this qualifies for insider trading, I don't know.

"But if it's an offence, Lord Mandelson will be prosecuted and he is going to have to face the consequences of what he's done."

Paste BN has contacted Lord Mandelson for comment.

 The gaps in vetting Peter Mandelson for UK ambassador to the US shows that the entire vetting system needs updating, the chair of the foreign affairs committee says.

Dame Emily Thornberry tells Wilfred Frost that Lord Mandelson's appointment "exposes the weaknesses in our vetting process and in our due diligence process".

"We had the mandarins in front of my foreign affairs committee, and we asked them what the vetting process was. And to be honest, it's so clunky and old fashioned. I mean, it's like it kind of harks back to the 50s," she says.

Thornberry adds: "The due diligence just seems to be look at open source, put it in a document, hand it over. They didn't even have Mandelson in to ask him any questions!"

She wants candidates to be ambassadors to appear before her committee.

But she defends Sir Keir Starmer, saying he's a "busy man" and has to rely on others to give him advice.

But "checks and balances exist, and we should have paid more attention to them" Thornberry says - adding that a political appointment to an ambassadorial role was a "huge risk".

She says that the revelations reflect poorly on Lord Mandelson's appointment, but says: "I've yet to hear any convincing evidence that he did anything other than a thoroughly good job when he was ambassador, and that's important."

Lord Mandelson's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein was known about before he was appointed as ambassador to the US, although the government says they didn't know about the details that have been published in the Epstein files.

On this morning's episode of the Cheat Sheet with Ridge And Frost podcast, presenter Wilfred Frost explained the laws around insider trading, and how Peter Mandelson could have fallen foul of them in his communication with Jeffrey Epstein.

He said: "You have to have material, non-public information - so information that's relevant to the markets that other people don't have.

"And either you encourage someone to deal on it, which is a bigger crime, or simply you disclose it. You don't have to be the person then profiting from this information if you disclose it and you are aware it is sensitive.

"It's a crime, by the way, that can lead to up to 10 years in jail in the most extreme circumstances."

Explaining how it relates to Lord Mandelson, Frost said people are pointing to "two big examples".

"In 2009, he seemingly shared internal advice to the prime minister, Gordon Brown, about whether the UK should sell off up to £20bn of financial assets to try and ease the debt burden," Frost said.

"Let's remember this was the peak of the financial crisis - there was a lot of pressure on markets all around the world. And similarly, seemingly leaking plans for a £500bn bailout the day before it then happened.

"This is, on the surface, material non-public information."

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Mandelson has previously said: "I was wrong to believe Epstein following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered."

In an interview with The Times carried out last week but published on Monday, Mandelson referred to a "handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending", and described Epstein as "muck that you can't get off your shoe".

 Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey says there should be a public inquiry into allegations Peter Mandelson leaked sensitive information to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary.

Speaking to our lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge, Davey says: "We need a national inquiry, a public inquiry into the impact on national security and indeed, British victims of Epstein. I think we've got to get it to that level. 

The fact that a deputy prime minister, the secretary of business, should be able to do this, and then it not being known about in Whitehall, so he's appointed to be Ambassador to the United States.

"It's quite extraordinary," Davey says.

He also backs a criminal investigation, saying "the evidence is pretty stark, for someone right at the top of government to be leaking".

Davey repeats his calls for Lord Mandelson to be stripped of his peerage.

He says the affair "makes... worse" existing public trust in democracy and institutions.

Peter Mandelson sent an email to Jeffrey Epstein on election day in 2010 saying "we are praying for a hung parliament".

"Alternatively, a well hung young man."

Lord Mandelson was business secretary and de-facto deputy prime minister at the time. He was in charge of Labour's general election campaign, and then helped lead negotiations for Labour on a potential coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Mandelson has previously said: "I was wrong to believe Epstein following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered."

Epstein pleaded guilty to one count of soliciting prostitution and one of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18 in 2008, around two years before this email was sent.

In an interview with The Times carried out last week but published on Monday, Mandelson referred to a "handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending", and described Epstein as "muck that you can't get off your shoe".

Peter Mandelson is a "six out of ten problem for Keir Starmer" but a bigger problem for Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, our deputy political editor Sam Coates says on this morning's Politics at Sam and Anne's podcast.

While Starmer has "put quite a lot of distance between himself and Mandelson", the former ambassador to the US is "McSweeney's guy". 

"McSweeney pushed [Mandelson's appointment] through. Here's a guy who took Mandelson to his wife's fundraisers. He spoke to him on the phone every day."

Sam says that while it was thought McSweeney's job might be on the line if Labour did badly in elections in May, after the Mandelson affair angry Labour MPs could come for him even sooner.

And, Sam points out the Conservatives could try and force the disclosure of some documents on Lord Mandelson's appointment when they have an opposition day debate in the Commons tomorrow.

Listen to the full episode below....

Families of children with cancer will pay travel costs under a new £10m scheme.

Health minister Karin Smyth tells Paste BN that a cancer diagnosis is "shocking for anyone", but for children, families have to travel to get a diagnosis.

"There are 13 specialist centres, so people generally have to travel for that specialist care because it's different having cancer in children and young people."

She says she's "really pleased, as part of our cancer plan, to be able to support those families with those travel costs, so that they're not having to think about paying for that travel and how they're going to cope with their family income at the same time as supporting their children."

The government is publishing the national cancer plan for England tomorrow.

 Peter Mandelson appears not to recognise the seriousness on his links with Epstein, health minister Karin Smyth says.

She tells our lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge: "I'm sure you've seen and interviewed over time, men that have been involved in similar sorts of behaviour, seem to not be able to recognise their own self in that.

"That is part of them having to deal with the level of seriousness and seeing it how other people see it, and people shouldn't put that out in the public domain having those interviews - it is a time for reflection and recognise how serious this is."

She is responding to an interview in The Times, where Lord Mandelson said: "It felt like being killed without actually dying. I've had a lot of bad luck, no doubt some of it of my own making. I need a reset."

Smyth appears to shake her head when Sophy reads that out.

Asked whether Lord Mandelson realises the seriousness of the matter, Smyth says: "I think by the sound of that interview, that would suggest not, but I'm not sure when that interview took place."

The Times interview took place on 25 January and again on Sunday.

 Peter Mandelson should testify before US Congress about Jeffrey Epstein, a minister tells Paste BN.

Asked by Sophy Ridge five times whether Lord Mandelson should testify, health minister Karin Smyth says: "That's a yes, isn't it? Because anybody who's got information should support the investigation, should be as open, you know, as they can be and as whatever."

Smyth answers Sophy's previous questions by saying "anybody with any evidence around the whole Epstein issue" should testify, without directly referring to Lord Mandelson.

Asked about Mandelson appearing to leak market sensitive information to Epstein while a minister in 2009, Smyth says that government data security is much stronger today.

She adds the government is looking at ways to remove Lord Mandelson's peerage, including working cross-party to pass a law in parliament to strip it.

In the latest tranche of Epstein files released by the US Justice Department, emails appear to show Lord Mandelson giving Epstein advance notice of a €500bn EU bank bailout in 2010.

Mandelson was emailed by Epstein, who wrote: "Sources tell me 500 b euro bailout , almost complete (sic)."

He then appears to reply: "Sd be announced tonight".

Epstein then asks if he is home, to which Mandelson replies: "Just leaving No10... will call".

Lord Mandelson was business secretary and de-facto deputy prime minister at the time.

The €500bn deal was approved the next day by European governments as they tried to pull the currency through the 2010 "Eurozone" crisis - where countries such as Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and Cyprus were unable to repay or refinance their government debt.

The UK did not contribute to the bailout. However, the then chancellor Alistair Darling was present in Brussels for the negotiations.

Other emails appear to show Lord Mandelson telling Epstein he was "trying hard" to change government policy on bankers' bonuses at his request, months after the convicted sex trafficker had paid tens of thousands of pounds to the peer's husband.

Lord Mandelson has not responded to the latest allegations. However, in an interview with The Times carried out last week but published on Monday, he referred to a "handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending", and described Epstein as "muck that you can't get off your shoe".

The Metropolitan Police is investigating allegations of misconduct in public office to "determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation".