Keir Starmer has ordered officials to draw up laws allowing Lord Peter Mandelson’s peerage to be removed “as quickly as possible”, Downing Street has said, while stressing there is also a broader need for the House of Lords to be able to swiftly remove “transgressors”. The Prime Minister's spokesman made the announcement after  Sir Keir Starmer told Cabinet the alleged passing-on of emails of highly sensitive Government business was “disgraceful” and that he was “not reassured that the totality of the information has yet emerged” regarding the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told Cabinet Lord Peter Mandelson had “let his country down” and there is a need to “move at pace” in responding to the revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files, Downing Street said. The Metropolitan Police are reviewing reports of alleged misconduct in a public office after millions of pages were released as part of the so-called Epstein files. It comes after files released by the US Department of Justice apparently showed Lord Mandelson passing information to Epstein while the peer was a cabinet minister in Gordon Brown’s government.

The Prime Minister has called for his former ambassador to Washington to quit the Lords, with Downing Street saying Sir Keir believes he should “not be a member… or use the title”.

He has tasked the country’s top civil servant with carrying out a review.

The documents indicate Epstein was sent details of internal discussions from the heart of the UK government after the global financial crisis.

Lord Mandelson, the then-business secretary, appeared to tell Epstein he would lobby ministers over a tax on bankers’ bonuses in 2009, and to confirm an imminent bailout package for the euro the day before it was announced in 2010.

Bank statements from 2003 and 2004 appeared to show he received payments totalling 75,000 US dollars from the financier, and Epstein is also said to have paid for an osteopathy course for Lord Mandelson’s husband.

The Metropolitan Police said on Monday they had received “a number of reports relating to alleged misconduct in a public office” after the files were released and that they would be reviewed to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.

A Government spokesperson said: “It is rightly for the police to determine whether to investigate and the Government stands ready to provide whatever support and assistance the police need.”

Downing Street earlier said Sir Keir had asked Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald to conduct “an urgent review” looking at “all available information regarding Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein during his period as a government minister”.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown said he had asked Sir Chris to investigate the disclosure of “confidential and market sensitive information” during the global financial crisis.

Nick Macpherson, former permanent secretary to the Treasury, suggested in a social media post that then-chancellor Alistair Darling had suspicions about leaks at the time.

“Alistair Darling and the official Treasury were always aware that investment banks had an inside track to Number 10. But the brazen nature of that inside track is rather breath-taking,” he posted on BlueSky.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Prime Minister, told the Commons on Monday that Lord Mandelson “must account for his actions and conduct”.