Hartlepool MP labels Peter Mandelson a 'traitor'
Jonathan Brash accuses his predecessor in Parliament over latest Epstein files disclosure
Apologies for the lateness of this mid-week edition of The Teesside Lead. As a freelance journalist, I have been taken away on short notice for a job which has seen me going to Hartlepool and then up to stand in the river Wansbeck in freezing conditions. I should be able to reveal more about that soon…
Hopefully I will have defrosted in time to deliver another edition for you this Sunday.
Today’s edition sees one of our MPs give his thoughts on the Epstein disclosures and Mandelson, a topic for those who also subscribe to our sister national edition of The Lead will have read more on yesterday in Zoë Grünewald’s powerful writing.
Thanks for reading!
Leigh
🗳️ In the last edition I mentioned Reform UK had withdrawn support for their candidate in the Zetland by-election following the revelation of racist social media posts by that candidate. Now they’re accusing their political opponents of a conspiracy to withhold their accusations in order to leave the party without a candidate in the election. It’s too late for Mike Manning - who has resigned from Reform UK - to remove his name from the ballot. “They made it impossible for us to field a replacement candidate in this by-election,” they said. Both Labour and the Lib Dems called the accusation “nonsense”. A reminder, my colleagues at the national edition of The Lead keep a watching brief on everything Reform is up to.
Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash has said his fellow Labour politician Peter Mandelson “undoubtedly is a traitor”.
Mandelson was Brash’s predecessor in Hartlepool, representing the town as its MP between 1992 and 2004 when he stood down.
Mr Brash made his comments in the House of Commons today (4 February). “I stand here acutely aware that I am the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool,” he said. “And I think today I speak for Hartlepudlians when I look at the evidence before us and say undoubtedly that Peter Mandelson is a traitor.”
More than 3,000,000 pages of documents were published by the US Department of Justice last week related to the deceased sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Among them was an email chain in which then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown was copied, which suggests Mandelson was sharing confidential internal government communications during the 2008 financial crisis with Epstein.
In an appearance on GB News yesterday afternoon, Mr Brash said Mandelson’s leaking of that confidential information was “beyond belief”.
He added that Mandelson was “clearly finished in politics”, but that it was “far more serious than that.
“In some respects it’s a tragic end to a political career, but he’s frankly deserving of everything he gets because the revelations today are absolutely appalling.”
When asked if it was treason by presenter Martin Daubney, Brash said it was “inexplicable”, although he used Parliamentary privilege to make the accusation in the House of Commons today.
Mandelson has not responded to any press requests for comment, although it’s understood his position is that he did not act criminally and was not motivated by financial gain.
It’s the latest headache for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who today said he was aware the former Hartlepool MP had maintained ties with Epstein after his 2008 conviction for procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute before appointing Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
Starmer says he was “repeatedly” lied to by Mandelson about his relationship with Epstein.
Really solid reporting on this mess. The Epstein files detail showing confidential crisis briefings leaked to him raises bigger questions about what else went unreported durring that period. I remember covering local govt stuff back in 2010 and noticing how many things got brushed aside whileeveryone focused on recovery narratives instead of accountability gaps.