The British public has lost faith in politics – the Peter Mandelson scandal must be a wake-up call for Keir Starmer |
Peter Mandelson is under criminal investigation after documents released by the US government appeared to show that he released sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein and his associates while he was a government minister.
He could potentially face charges of misconduct in public office. This is a law, as outlined by Spotlight on Corruption, that more often than not covers offences conducted by serving police officers and prison staff.
In Mandelson’s case, the police are likely to be looking at four specific elements: whether he was a public officer, whether he wilfully misconducted himself (which is a weird way to put it but I didn’t write the law), whether this happened to such a degree that it amounted to an abuse of public trust in the office holder, and whether all of the above happened without reasonable justification.
Mandelson was appointed by Keir Starmer to serve as his ambassador to the US and questions remain about how thoroughly he was vetted or how much Starmer knew about his relationship with Epstein. Either way, it is worth restating that Mandelson was literally known as The Prince of Darkness. It is also worth restating that he twice resigned during the New Labour years following allegations of impropriety.
Starmer may not like it but his approach to standards is aligned with former prime minister Boris Johnson. When he came into office, Starmer updated the ministerial code in a number of small but important ways. And, in the foreword he said that “restoring trust........