Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address Motion

Lord Clarke of Nottingham Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Lord, as ever, raises an interesting and non-straightforward point for me to answer. On the process, while this was unusual it is not unheard of. Three Members of your Lordships’ House were political appointees from both parties to hold ambassadorial roles, both by previous Labour Governments and by the Conservative Government. There is a clear process for such appointments. The process was followed; the process did not work; the process has now changed.

[Lord Clarke of Nottingham (Con)]

The private lives of the decadent rich are always going to arouse interest in the media and with the general public. The Prime Minister has failed to answer some very embarrassing questions about what he knew when he made this appointment. In my opinion, this whole thing became overwhelmingly more serious when allegations were made that Lord Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten had been repaying the hospitality they received by giving classified government financial and economic information to a financier to help him with his investments. If that is true, it is one of the most serious allegations of corruption in public life in recent years. We normally assume that we do not have that in this country. Can the Minister assure me that the Metropolitan Police is being given full support in getting on with the task of investigating that, and that there will be no suggestion of political pressure at any stage to stop the full force of the law being brought forward? Others must be deterred in future from being tempted to go in for that kind of corrupt behaviour.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

Before I answer the substance of the question, while I appreciate the issues that were raised, the private lives of the decadent rich are of no odds here. It is about abuse and violence against women and girls, and illegal behaviour; it is not about a decadent life. Regardless of whether they are rich or not, people should be held to account with the full force of the law. On classified government information, noble Lords will be aware there is a live police investigation so I cannot comment on the detail. However, I would expect the Met Police to receive absolute full support. If laws have been broken, people should be prosecuted.