THE SNP have lodged a Commons motion demanding Keir Starmer strip Peter Mandelson of his peerage with immediate effect.
Mandelson, who has been a Labour member of the House of Lords since 2008, was sacked on Thursday as UK ambassador to the US after further details emerged of his relationship with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Prime Minister is currently facing questions about what he knew about the pair’s relationship, and when, with Sky News reporting that security fears were ignored to push through with his appointment.
And now, the SNP have lodged an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons urging Starmer to take “the legislative steps to remove his peerage”.
It is possible to remove a peerage, but only through an act of parliament, as they are legal documents issued by the monarch and adorned with the Great Seal.
A life peer can resign from their position in the second chamber, but retains their title.
A peer can also have their membership of the Lords suspended or cancelled if they are convicted of a serious offence, or be expelled by the House.
In Mandelson’s case, it is understood that legislation would have to be passed to remove him.
The SNP have called for Mandelson to be “permanently removed from the public payroll”.
The motion reads: “That this House believes that Lord Mandelson has brought Parliament into disrepute; and calls on the Government to take legislative steps to remove his peerage.”
Mandelson was “withdrawn” as ambassador after it emerged he had coached Epstein through his conviction for soliciting prostitution in 2008, as revealed by The Sun.
Gordon Brown installed Mandelson as a peer in 2008 to bring him back into government, after he had previously been removed twice from Tony Blair’s administration due to political and financial scandals.
SNP MP Brendan O’Hara said: “Keir Starmer may have finally bowed to the inevitable and sacked Peter Mandelson but it’s not much of a punishment if he flies back from Washington and puts his feet back up in the House of Lords.
“The minimum the public expect is that Peter Mandelson is now stripped of his peerage and permanently removed from the public payroll.
“The fact that the Labour Government still won’t confirm if Mandelson has been removed from the public payroll and are still refusing to rule out handing him another plum job shows just how out of touch they are.
“If the Prime Minister is digging his heels in and won’t act, it is vital that parliament uses every available mechanism to apply maximum pressure to remove him from the House of Lords, and that’s exactly what this parliamentary motion is designed to do.”
O’Hara (below) said that removing Mandelson from the Lords is an “important next step”, but that Starmer’s “judgement, reputation and authority” are “firmly on the line”.
“Peter Mandelson’s sacking isn’t the end of this scandal – until every question is answered and every document is released, this scandal will go on and on,” he added.
“The Prime Minister is at the very heart of this, and all these questions now fall on him.”
The Mandelson saga erupted after Democrats in Congress released copies of the so-called “birthday book” on Monday after the documents were subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee last month.
Leaked emails first reported by The Sun also showed that Mandelson told Epstein in 2008 that “your friends stay with you and love you” while the billionaire was being investigated for paedophilia offences.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told the Commons on Thursday that “in light of additional information” in the leaked emails, Mandelson would be “withdrawn” as ambassador.
“The email shows Mr Speaker that the depth and extent of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment,” he told MPs.
