What does the criminal investigation mean for Peter Mandelson?
The Met police have launched a criminal investigation into Peter Mandelson after fresh disclosures from the Jeffrey Epstein files.Which laws could he potentially be accused of breaking and on what basis?The Met has said it received a number of reports relating to possible misconduct in public office.The Scottish National party and Reform UK reported Mandelson to the police to investigate any possible offences.Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, also said she believed his apparent actions should merit a criminal inquiry.The Met confirmed on Tuesday night that it had “launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former government minister, for misconduct in public office offences”.
The new disclosures from the Epstein files appeared to suggest Mandelson sent emails to the late sex offender containing confidential information that the government was receiving to deal with the global financial crash while he was business secretary under Gordon Brown,They are thought to have included:A confidential UK government document outlining £20bn in asset sales,Mandelson claiming he was “trying hard” to change government policy on bankers’ bonuses,An imminent bailout package for the euro the day before it was announced in 2010,A suggestion that the JPMorgan boss “mildly threaten” the chancellor.
Brown said on Tuesday he had written to the Met to share information relating to Mandelson, saying the former business secretary’s apparent disclosure of market-sensitive and confidential government information to Epstein was “an inexcusable and unpatriotic act at a time when the whole government and country were attempting to address the global financial crisis that was damaging so many livelihoods”.The Cabinet Office referred material to the police after an initial review of documents released as part of the Epstein files showed they probably contained market-sensitive information and suggested that “safeguards were compromised”, Downing Street said.A 2004 court of appeal case said the constituent elements of the common law offence were:A public officer acting as such.[Who] wilfully neglects to perform his duty and/or wilfully misconducts himself.To such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder.
Without reasonable excuse or justification.The offence has been widely criticised for being ill-defined and lacking clarity.It is in the process of being replaced by a new statutory offence.The current offence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.According to a Spotlight on Corruption report from last year, there are fewer than 100 prosecutions for the offence each year and a few dozen convictions.
Its analysis of those convicted since 2014 identified no members of government.Most convicted were police or prison officers.An attempt to bring a private prosecution for the offence against Boris Johnson for allegedly telling lies during the 2016 referendum campaign was thrown out by judges in 2019.Other documents appeared to show Epstein paid a total of $75,000 into bank accounts of which Mandelson – then a Labour MP – was believed to be a beneficiary.The documents also suggest Epstein sent Mandelson’s partner, now his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, £10,000 in September 2009 to fund an osteopathy course and other expenses.
In a Times interview before the latest allegations came to light, Mandelson admitted to a “lapse in judgment” over Epstein’s payment to da Silva at the time the government was dealing with the global financial crisis, but rejected the suggestion this left him open to bribery claims, with the disgraced financier lobbying him to change banker bonus rules.Mandelson said: “There was non-stop discussion from the entire industry about reforming the banks and how to strike the right balance in regulation.”If Mandelson did leak plans for the government’s proposed £20bn sale of assets, he could potentially be investigated for market abuse as such information could be used in the trading of UK government bonds.There are civil offences, that carry unlimited fines, and criminal offences, under the Criminal Justice Act 1993, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.The criminal offence applies where “an individual who has information as an insider … discloses the information, otherwise than in the proper performance of the functions of his employment, office or profession, to another person”.
The Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, suggested on Tuesday that Mandelson might have breached the Official Secrets Act.However, it is unclear whether the information allegedly shared falls within the six categories of information protected by the act, which include the likes of security and intelligence, defence and international relations.Mandelson said none of the recently released Epstein files “indicate wrongdoing or misdemeanour on my part”.
Winter Olympics 2026: latest medal table for Milano Cortina
The Winter Olympics returns to Italy for the first time in two decades. From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games – the first to be co-hosted by two cities – will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition.The medal table prioritises the number of gold medals won. If countries have the same number of gold medals, the order is then dictated by which has the most silvers, and finally bronze if the numbers are still identical. Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country
Winter Olympics results from Milano Cortina 2026
The Winter Olympics returns to Italy for the first time in two decades. From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games – the first to be co-hosted by two cities – will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition.Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country. Alpine fans will once again be drawn to Mikaela Shiffrin, still redefining excellence across the technical disciplines.Figure skating returns with its familiar blend of artistry and pressure, led by the American phenomenon Ilia Malinin, whose boundary-pushing jumps continue to reshape the sport, while Team GB hope that Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson grasp their opportunity to win Britain’s first figure skating medal since Jayyne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1994
Winter Olympics: full schedule for Milano Cortina 2026
The Winter Olympics returns to Italy for the first time in two decades. From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games – the first to be co-hosted by two cities – will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition.Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country. Alpine fans will once again be drawn to Mikaela Shiffrin, still redefining excellence across the technical disciplines.Figure skating returns with its familiar blend of artistry and pressure, led by the American phenomenon Ilia Malinin, whose boundary-pushing jumps continue to reshape the sport, while Team GB hope that Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson grasp their opportunity to win Britain’s first figure skating medal since Jayyne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1994
Cool Runnings 2.0: Jamaica’s bobsleigh crew want their own Hollywood ending
Chris Stokes, part of the 1988 team that inspired a film, is setting lofty goals as head of Jamaica’s bobsleigh federationIt did not make so much as a ripple outside of its minor sporting niche, but something particularly unusual occurred in the bobsleigh world earlier this year. Upon turning up in the New York outpost of Lake Placid for their final Winter Olympics warm-up competition, Jamaica’s four-man bobsleigh team were informed they were not allowed to take part. A hat-trick of gold medals over the preceding few weeks had seen them rise too high in the world rankings to take their customary place on the second-tier North American Cup circuit. They had simply become too good.In the overwhelming majority of countries, the Winter Olympics is an assortment of sporting oddities held in an alternative climate that might pique attention every four years
The Spin | India’s dominance looms over faster and more furious T20 World Cup
In the immortal words of Brenda from Bristol, not another one. Between 17 October 2021, the start of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates, and 8 March 2026, the date of this year’s final, four T20 World Cups will have been squeezed into four years, four months and 19 days.If they come along more regularly even than British general elections – to which Brenda produced her timeless reaction in 2017 – they at least have more interesting results: the past five have had five different winners and the past three six different finalists. What’s more, though not much time has passed since the last one ended with India beating South Africa in Barbados, it seems to have been long enough for the game to shift into a fresh and exhilarating new gear.It is too soon to be drawing conclusions about the state of the game in 2026, but in 21 T20 internationals in the first month of this year 6,960 runs were scored at 9
Ten athletes from Team USA to watch at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Mikaela Shiffrin has surpassed Vonn’s record haul of World Cup wins and staked her claim as the GOAT. But Vonn has a solid claim to be the best ever in the speed events (downhill, super-G), and she has been racing exclusively in those disciplines since returning from retirement, surging to the top of the World Cup downhill standings at age 41. She has a score to settle with the sport’s biggest stage – her lifetime total of three Olympic medals (one gold) would probably be higher if not for a horror crash in practice in 2006 and injuries that either limited or outright excluded her from other Games. After some selection drama in the team combined event in last year’s world championships, it seems inconceivable that Vonn and Shiffrin, both of whom have had some misfortune in the Olympics, would not be paired up to form Alpine skiing’s equivalent of the 1992 basketball Dream Team. Vonn was in a nasty crash last weekend but it seems that she will be fit to take part in Italy
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