Our political correspondent Mhari Aurora has been at a briefing of political journalists in Downing Street - and describes it as "extraordinary".

At the briefing, a spokesperson said Sir Keir Starmer thinks Lord Mandelson should lose his peerage and testify before US Congress over his links to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

"It was extraordinary because of the willingness to totally throw Peter Mandelson under the bus," Mhari says.

"There was no beating around the bush in this lobby briefing. It was completely and utterly clear.

"The PM wants Mandelson gone. He wants him gone as soon as possible from the House of Lords. 

"That was very, very abundantly clear."

She added that "realistically the hope from the government" is that "Peter Mandelson will do the right thing and resign his peerage without them having to take more action".

Downing Street said there was no modern precedent for stripping a Lord of their peerage, and it would take an act of parliament to do so.

Mhari said the government's shift in tone on Lord Mandelson since the autumn is because of the "totality of information that emerged over the weekend has made them reach this conclusion and come to this response".

"Can Peter Mandelson hang on sustainably as a Lord when the Prime Minister himself is basically saying, 'you've got to go?'," Mhari asks.

MPs are to debate the latest revelations about the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein this afternoon.

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones will give a statement on "the release of files by the US Department of Justice".

More than three million pages of files relating to Epstein have been released.

The statement follows the resignation of Lord Mandelson from Labour, after the latest tranche of Epstein documents appeared to show him and his now husband accepting $75,000 from Epstein.

Lord Mandelson, who was the Labour MP for Hartlepool when the files suggest the payments were alleged to have been made, resigned his membership of the party on Sunday night, saying he wanted to avoid causing it "further embarrassment".

The peer, who has denied any record or recollection of the payments and questioned their authenticity, said in a statement he wanted "to repeat my apology to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now".

The statement is set to begin a little after 3.30pm.

Sir Keir Starmer believes Lord Mandelson should testify before the US Congress about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The prime minister always said anyone with information should be prepared to share [that information] in whatever form."

The spokesperson said someone "cannot be victim-centred if [they are] unprepared to do so".

The call for the disgraced peer to give evidence in Washington comes after fresh details about his relationship with Epstein emerged over the weekend following the publication of more than three million pages of documents and 180,000 images relating to the paedophile financier.

Documents included in the cache appeared to show that the New Labour grandee received $75,000 from Epstein, detailed in three apparent bank statements showing three money transfers of $25,000 each in 2003 and 2004.

It is unclear whether the payments ever made it into any named accounts.

Lord Mandelson, who was the Labour MP for Hartlepool when the files suggest the payments were alleged to have been made, resigned his membership of the party on Sunday night, saying he wanted to avoid causing it "further embarrassment".

The peer, who has denied any record or recollection of the payments and questioned their authenticity, said in a statement he wanted "to repeat my apology to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now".

He said he felt "regretful and sorry" about weekend revelations linking him to "the understandable furore surrounding" Epstein, who took his own life in prison in 2019.

The New Labour grandee, who was sacked as the UK's ambassador to the United States after it emerged that he had continued his relationship with Epstein after his 2008 conviction, appeared in a picture found in the files wearing only his underwear and a t-shirt, which Paste BN has confirmed was taken in the paedophile's Paris flat.

A spokesperson for Lord Mandelson previously told Paste BN: "No one can say who or where the photo was taken. Lord Mandelson has absolutely no idea or indeed whether it has any connection to Epstein at all."

The leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has called for a "full Cabinet Office investigation" into Lord Mandelson's dealings with Jeffrey Epstein while he was a minister in the New Labour government.

Disciplinary action was "underway" prior to Lord Mandelson's resignation from Labour, a party spokesperson has said.

"It is right that Peter Mandelson is no longer a member of the Labour Party. Disciplinary action was underway prior to his resignation," the spokesperson said.

"Jeffrey Epstein's heinous crimes destroyed the lives of so many women and girls, and our thoughts remain with his victims."

Lord Mandelson last night resigned from the Labour Party, saying he did not want to cause the party "further embarrassment" due to continued revelations over his links to the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The Conservative Party has called for a "full investigation" into Lord Mandelson's links with Epstein and his appointment as UK ambassador to the US.

While both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats have both called on Lord Mandelson to be stripped of his peerage.

Lord Mandelson most recently served as UK ambassador to the US, but was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer in September.

He previously served as Northern Ireland secretary, business secretary, and de-facto deputy prime minister in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

A man in his sixties - understood to be MP Dan Norris - has been further arrested on suspicion of rape, sexual assault, voyeurism and upskirting, Avon and Somerset Police has said.

Norris, currently an independent MP for North East Somerset and Hanham, was formerly a member of the Labour Party, until he was suspended in April 2025 after being arrested by Avon and Somerset Police.

A police spokesperson said: "An investigation into allegations of non-recent sexual offences which resulted in the arrest of a man in his sixties is continuing.

"The man was initially arrested in April 2025 on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl (under the Sexual Offences Act 1956), rape (under the Sexual Offences Act 2003), child abduction and misconduct in a public office.

"Following our enquiries, the man has been further arrested on suspicion of rape against a second woman, sexual assault against a third woman, as well as voyeurism and upskirting against a number of women.

"We're no longer actively investigating any sexual offences against children, but the original rape and misconduct in a public office investigation is continuing."

Police say all the offences are alleged to have occurred between the 2000s and 2020s.

Norris, who won his seat at the 2024 general election, previously served as Mayor of the West of England from 2021 to 2025.

He was previously MP for Wansdyke from 1997 to 2010, and served as a junior environment minister in Gordon Brown's government.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "Dan Norris MP was immediately suspended by the Labour Party upon being informed of his initial arrest.

"These new allegations are deeply concerning, and any person found guilty of such abhorrent crimes must face the full force of the law. We cannot comment further while the police investigation is ongoing."

Paste BN has confirmed that a photo of Peter Mandelson in his underwear was taken in Jeffrey Epstein's Paris flat. 

A spokesperson for Lord Mandelson previously told Paste BN: "No one can say who or where the photo was taken.  

"Lord Mandelson has absolutely no idea or indeed whether it has any connection to Epstein at all."

Sky's Data and Forensics Unit was able to match the metal balcony railing visible in the window to those used on Epstein's Paris home. 

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said the government should launch a "full investigation" into Lord Peter Mandelson's links to Jeffrey Epstein.

She also called for him to be removed from the House of Lords.

Badenoch said the investigation should look into "how he ever came to be appointed at all" given the ongoing revelations over his links to Epstein.

She said: "What the allegations appear to show is corruption in public office and I think that if that is something that is proven to be the case, then all the right steps need to be taken."

She suggested that his appointment as UK ambassador to the US did not receive proper vetting. 

Criticising Sir Keir Starmer, she said: "The prime minister was very happy to say that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should testify, but he had a chance to sack Peter Mandelson, and he didn't do so at every opportunity that he had.

"He is still protecting this man in a way that he has no need to. And we need to focus on what's happening in our country, what our prime minister is doing, which at the moment is showing really, really extreme levels of bad judgment."

In a separate statement, she said the Cabinet Office needed to look into "how Mandelson and his husband took money from the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein".

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called on the government to strip Lord Peter Mandelson of his peerage.

Davey said: "It's time now for the government to take immediate action by bringing forward legislation to strip Peter Mandelson of his peerage. 

"It is the very least they can do for the victims and survivors of his friend Jeffrey Epstein.

"If Mandelson has any shame left he will retire from the House of Lords today while this process gets underway."

Removing a peerage requires an act of parliament to be passed. It last happened in the early 1900s, to remove peerages from "enemies" of the UK during the First World War.

A peer cannot give up their life peerage, although they can retire from being a member of the House of Lords. 

The victims' minister has said that "no one is above scrutiny" when it comes to investigating crimes by the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Alex Davies-Jones wrote on X: "No-one is above scrutiny when it comes to justice for survivors of Epstein’s crimes. Victims are still waiting for answers.

"They deserve the truth."

Davies-Jones quoted Virginia Giuffre, who is the main accuser of wrongdoing by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor: "If we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt."

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied the claims against him.