The SNP has called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to strip Peter Mandelson of his peerage, following King Charles’s decision to remove all royal titles and privileges from Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew.
SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn said the Labour peer’s position in the House of Lords is “indefensible” in light of his alleged links to the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“The King has now acted to remove titles and positions from his own brother,” said Flynn.
“What does it say about Keir Starmer that he has failed to do the exact same thing with Peter Mandelson, who is still in the House of Lords?”
He added that Mandelson’s involvement in correspondence with Epstein “implicates him in the scandal” and that the same moral principle should apply to both men.
“Peter Mandelson wrote an email to Jeffrey Epstein suggesting his conviction was wrongful,” Flynn said.
“Whether Keir Starmer likes it or not, Peter Mandelson is implicated in the Epstein scandal, just as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor is.
“The allegations may be different, but the consequences must be the same.”
Peter Mandelson, a former Cabinet Minister under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, was twice forced to resign from government over financial and political controversies before being made a life peer in 2008.
The SNP has tabled a motion in Westminster urging the UK Labour Government to act and remove him from the Lords.
Flynn accused Keir Starmer of lacking “moral clarity” by allowing Mandelson to remain in a lawmaking position funded by taxpayers.
“It is wrong on every moral level that Peter Mandelson is being kept in a position where he is able to make laws for life,” he said.
“If the Prime Minister doesn’t understand why that is a disgrace, he doesn’t deserve to be in the office he holds.”
He also questioned whether Mandelson holds influence over Starmer.
“People are naturally questioning what Keir Starmer has to fear by sacking Peter Mandelson from the Lords,” said Flynn.
“What hold does Mandelson have over him, and what is he afraid will happen if he does the right thing?”
Flynn added that the public will continue to demand answers until Starmer removes Mandelson from the Lords and the public payroll.
“Until Keir Starmer follows the example of the King,” he said, “and acts to remove Peter Mandelson from the House of Lords, this scandal is nowhere near its end.”
