Mandelson, 72, resigned from the Labour party and the House of Lords in February after the release of the Epstein files in the US. Photograph: Kin Cheung/APView image in fullscreenMandelson, 72, resigned from the Labour party and the House of Lords in February after the release of the Epstein files in the US. Photograph: Kin Cheung/APPeter Mandelson asked Foreign Office for £500k severance payment, files showFormer peer sacked as US ambassador over links to Jeffrey Epstein was offered £75,000, documents released by Cabinet Office show
Peter Mandelson was offered a severance payment of £75,000 – having initially asked the Foreign Office to pay him more than £500,000 upon his sacking as US ambassador, newly released documents reveal.
Exchanges in the documents released by the Cabinet Office suggested that officials did “well to get this settlement down this low with minimal fuss”, after Mandelson was forced to resign as ambassador to the US because of newly disclosed details about his long friendship with the disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein.
The chief secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, signed off the £75,000 payment – a combination of payment in lieu of notice as well as a special severance deal of £34,670.50. Officials discussing the payment said Mandelson “opened negotiations asking us to pay out his contract (over £500k).” The full amount requested would have been £547,000.
The release of the documents was forced by a humble address motion from the Conservatives in parliament – which the government did not oppose. The motion covered exchanges with all senior figures in Starmer’s government, designed to be as wide-ranging as possible.
But a police investigation into Mandelson has delayed the release of the documents – one specific exchange that is understood to have been blocked from release includes the three questions Starmer put directly to Mandelson about how he maintained his friendship with Epstein.
MPs voted to hand powers to the intelligence and security committee of MPs and peers to decide which documents could be released without prejudicing national security.
The documents being released are the first batch of tens of thousands of files and are expected to contain information that was publicly available at the time, such as newspaper reports that showed the extent of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein.
It was to include correspondence between Cabinet Office, Downing Street and Foreign Office officials about Mandelson, who was sacked from his Washington role last September.
Mandelson, 72, resigned from the Labour party and the House of Lords in February after the release of the Epstein files in the US. He has since been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, which is understood to be related to sensitive information he appeared to share with Epstein while he was business secretary under Gordon Brown.
The former Labour grandee was later released from his bail conditions, although he remains under investigation.
Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing, including misconduct in public office. He has apologised to Epstein’s victims for remaining friends with him.
