UK govt urged to release documents linked to ex-prince Andrew

LONDON: The UK government Tuesday faced calls to release documents on ex-prince Andrew’s past role as a trade envoy, just hours after a veteran politician was quizzed by police in the widening Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

US authorities last month published millions of files related to late sex offender Epstein, containing revelations which have rocked British political and royal circles.

It has ramped up pressure on the government to release its own vetting documents and sparked two separate, high-profile police investigations.

The Liberal Democrats said they would table a motion in parliament Tuesday to force the government to release vetting documents on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as trade envoy, a post he held from 2001 to 2011. The former prince was arrested last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

“The public is rightly demanding to know how Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed to represent our nation in a high-level trade role,” Liberal leader Ed Davey said.

READ MORE: Australia PM backs removing UK’s Andrew from line of succession

“No one, regardless of their title or their friends, should be beyond the scrutiny of parliament.”

The government is set to release in March a first set of documents relating to the appointment of former government minister Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador in Washington.

Mandelson, a key figure in British politics for decades and Britain’s envoy to Washington till September, was arrested on Monday in a separate misconduct in public office probe, also related to his links to Epstein.

Mandelson’s appointment has already triggered a political storm with two of Starmer’s top aides resigning over the row.

The release of documents related to the former politician and the former prince could prove a further headache to the government and the Labour party that oversaw both appointments.

Mountbatten-Windsor, King Charles III’s younger brother who was stripped of his titles last year, is being probed after allegations that he shared sensitive documents with Epstein during his time as envoy.

The former prince, long embroiled in scandals over his  friendship with the late US sex offender, has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

MPs are calling to release vetting documents from Andrew’s appointment as envoy under then-Labour prime minister Tony Blair. Mandelson was then a pivotal figure in the party helping to secure Blair’s election victory, ousting the Conservatives.

Mountbatten-Windsor’s biographer Andrew Lownie told AFP Blair and Mandelson “pushed his appointment through”.

‘Push ahead’

The motion being brought to parliament – called a “humble address” – was used successfully this month to compel Prime Minister Keir Starmer to release documents related to Mandelson’s 2024 appointment as ambassador to Washington.

Mandelson was sacked from the top envoy role after just seven months over revelations over the depth of his ties to Epstein.

Government minister Bridget Phillipson told Sky News on Tuesday the government would “push ahead” with publishing the first Mandelson documents in “early March”, despite his arrest on Monday.

“We do just need to be mindful of any documents we publish given the nature of the ongoing police investigation,” said Phillipson.

Starmer has apologised to Epstein’s victims for appointing Mandelson, and accused the ex-envoy of lying about the extent of his ties to the billionaire financier during the vetting process for his Washington posting.

Mandelson, who was released on bail early Tuesday, has previously apologised for his friendship with Epstein and insisted he did not know about the financier’s sexual offences, despite Epstein’s 2008 conviction for child prostitution.