Just shy of 24 hours ago, Peter Mandelson announced his resignation from the Labour Party.

A day later, and the peer now faces the possibility of losing his spot in the House of Lords. There have also been calls from some MPs for a criminal investigation into his conduct.

It follows days of revelations arising from the three million documents that are part of the latest tranche of the so-called Epstein files to be released by the US Department of Justice.

Among them, emails appear to show Mandelson suggested a bank boss "mildly threaten" then-Chancellor Alistair Darling over government policy. Simlarly, Mandelson gave Epstein advance notice of a €500bn bailout from the EU to save the Euro, according to the documents

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he's ordered an "urgent" investigation into Mandelson's contact with Epstein while he was a government minister, and says he should "not be a member of the House of Lords" any longer.

But other politicians have called for sanctions to go further.

A number of MPs earlier called for a criminal investigation into Mandelson to be launched, after emails suggested he forwarded internal government information to Epstein. The SNP and Reform have both reported him to the Metropolitan Police.

The Met says it has "received a number of reports relating to alleged misconduct in a public office", and will review them to determine if they "meet the criminal threshold for investigation".

The BBC has approached Mandelson for comment, but he has yet to respond to these allegations. He has previously said he has no record or recollection of receiving money from Epstein, saying he believes the claim to be false and needs "investigating by me".

We're ending our live coverage there, but for further reading:

• Here's our news story on the police assessing reports of alleged misconduct after Mandelson emails published
• And our political correspondent writes that the revelations raise further questions about Starmer's judgement

Andy Verity
Investigations correspondent

Mandelson helped an investment banker friend of Epstein to secure a deal with the UK government to buy a highly profitable asset and later sought to make money from his bank, new emails in the latest tranche of Epstein files reveal.

The 2010 sale of the asset, an energy trading business part-owned by crisis-stricken RBS, was arranged following a meeting Epstein said he had set up between investment banker Jes Staley, then-Business Secretary Mandelson, and then-Chancellor Alistair Darling.

Less than a year after the deal was agreed, after he had left office, Mandelson discussed how he might personally make money arranging deals for the same investment bank, JP Morgan.

The meeting was to discuss buying the energy trading firm RBS Sempra, which the stricken nationalised bank RBS had owned as a joint venture with its founder Sempra Energy, but was then forced to sell as part of a plan to shrink the bank following the 2008 crisis.

Emails released in a 2023 court case show that Epstein asked: "My view is Sempra is an asset that comes up once every ten years […] was Petie helpful?"

The latest emails show Staley’s reply: "Very."

The government announced two weeks later, on 16 February 2010, that agreement had been reached to sell the business to JP Morgan for $1.7 billion dollars.

After leaving office following the general election of May 2010, Lord Mandelson wrote to Epstein on Christmas Day to discuss plans to generate work for his consultancy firm, Global Counsel.

"I do not want to live by salary alone. That's why I need to do as much as possible to build with JPM."

Mandelson has been approached for comment.

Mandelson revelations raise further questions about Starmer's judgementpublished at 20:19 GMT

20:19 GMT

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

In his statement today, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared his shock at the latest revelations that Mandelson, while he was business secretary, apparently passed Epstein sensitive and potentially advantageous government information.

Brown has called for a wide-ranging, intensive Whitehall inquiry into the disclosure of government documents - and for its findings to be made public.

His statement isn't entirely helpful for the current prime minister, who has been under pressure from opposition politicians to order an inquiry in to how Lord Mandelson was appointed as US ambassador in the first place.

In an attempt to get on the front foot today, the prime minister said there would be an urgent investigation into Lord Mandelson's links with Epstein while he was a minister in the last Labour government.

But it now transpires that Brown had asked the cabinet secretary to undertake a similar exercise as long ago as last September - although it unearthed nothing.

That may solidify further the criticism from the opposition - and from some inside the Labour Party - that Starmer has been too slow to act.

When Mandelson was turfed out of Washington last September, Downing Street said that was because the "extent and depth" of his relationship with Epstein hadn't been previously known.

While new depths now appear to have been plumbed, the question of why some more wasn't known or discovered before his appointment will not go away.

• Read more of Iain Watson's analysis here

US President Donald Trump says in a post on social media that he wasn't "friendly" with Jeffrey Epstein.

"So much for the Radical Left’s hope against hope, some of whom I’ll be suing," he writes in a post on his Truth Social platform.

"Additionally, unlike so many people that like to 'talk' trash, I never went to the infested Epstein island", he says.

As we've been reporting, among the new documents is a list compiled by the FBI of allegations made against Trump by callers to a tip line - many appear to be unverified and without supporting evidence.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, and the White House has previously said the documents contain "untrue" claims about the president.

Trump is known to have been an associate of Epstein for years, but has said he had no knowledge of his crimes and that they fell out in about 2004.

The Metropolitan Police has released a statement saying it will review a number of reports it has received relating to alleged misconduct in a public office.

Commander of the Met Police, Ella Marriott, says: "We are aware of the further release of millions of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein by the United States Department of Justice.

"Following this release and subsequent media reporting, the Met has received a number of reports relating to alleged misconduct in a public office. The reports will all be reviewed to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.

"As with any matter, if new and relevant information is brought to our attention we will assess it, and investigate as appropriate."

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

Image source, Reuters

A handful of Labour MPs have criticised the government’s handling of the row over Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein, according to private messages seen by BBC News.

Earlier today, Number 10 officials posted in a WhatsApp group for Labour MPs, outlining the government’s position.

They said: “It’s right that Peter Mandelson has resigned from the Labour party and had he not done so, the party was actively looking at what action could be taken.”

One Labour MP replied: “That line on Peter Mandelson is no way strong enough.”

Another said: “Agree. Surely had he not resigned the party would have suspended him pending expulsion given the seriousness of conduct.”

Image source, House of Commons

In the House of Commons, a number of MPs from different parties called for a criminal investigation into Peter Mandelson. It's after emails released from the so-called Epstein files suggested that he forwarded internal government information to Epstein.

Since then, both the SNP and Reform UK confirmed they have reported Mandelson to the Metropolitan Police.

In the Commons, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Darren Jones, said Mandelson's behaviour "falls far below the standards expected of any minister" - but said criminal investigations are a matter for prosecution services and the police.

Here's what else we heard:

• Jones said allegations about financial transactions between Mandelson and Epstein when Mandelson was in public office were "not known by the government" before Friday's release, and said these would be investigated by the country's most senior civil servant
• He called on MPs to help "modernise" the disciplinary procedure in the House of Lords so those who bring it "into disrepute" can be removed
• Conservative Alex Burghart said it was a "great embarrassment" to the UK that its most senior ambassador was "caught up" with a man like disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, and called for an investigation into Mandelson's work as ambassador to the US
• The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn criticised Labour for not immediately putting forward legislation to strip Mandelson of his peerage, and said he doesn't understand why the prime minister has not said Mandelson should be subject to a criminal investigation
• And Reform UK's Robert Jenrick said it was "always a grotesque error of judgement" to appoint Mandelson in the first place, and called on the government to bring forward legislation to "deal with this now". Jones pointed out that the Conservatives, of which Jenrick was a member at the time, did not object to Mandelson's appointment

As a reminder, Mandelson has been approached for comment about allegations of criminal misconduct and claims he leaked government information. He has previously said he has no record or recollection of receiving money from Epstein, saying he believes the claim to be false and needs "investigating by me".

Speaking just now in the Commons, Reform UK's Robert Jenrick says appointing Mandelson as US ambassador was "always a grotesque error of judgement".

He says it is a "total disgrace" to discover that Mandelson "leaked confidential information to a convicted sex offender" as a cabinet minister and "took tens of thousands of pounds in secret backhanders".

Jenrick condemns Jones's response, asking if he will bring forward legislation to "deal with this now".

He also asks why Jones has not said he will "go proactively to the police" and "demand an investigation" when Mandelson has "clearly broken the law" and is now "accused of serious misconduct in a public office and should be tried for his offences".

In response, Jones says the government will cooperate with any investigation that takes place, and stands ready to introduce legislation to update procedures in the House of Lords.

He also says that the Conservative Party - which Jenrick was a member of at the time - did not object to Mandelson as US ambassador when he was appointed.

Mandelson has been approached for comment about allegations that he leaked government information. Mandelson has said he has no record or recollection of receiving money from Epstein, saying he believes the claim to be false and needs "investigating by me".

The SNP and Reform UK have reported Peter Mandelson to the Metropolitan Police.

It comes after emails released in the Epstein files suggest that Mandelson forwarded internal government information to Epstein when he was then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown's business secretary.

The Leader of the SNP in Westminster - Stephen Flynn - said in a letter to the Met Police commissioner: "If such allegations are investigated and proven, it is gravely serious – for Peter Mandelson, for the Labour Prime Ministers who appointed him and for the UK government as a whole. That is why I believe it is now clearly in the public interest that all of these newly released emails and files, and Mandelson’s entire period in UK Labour Governments, must now be criminally investigated."

The SNP leader continued in the letter, saying "grounds for such a criminal investigation are already well established in law. In the Attorney General's Reference No 3 of 2003 [2004] EWCA Crim 868 the court said that the misconduct must amount to: '… an affront to the standing of the public office held. The threshold is a high one requiring conduct so far below acceptable standards as to amount to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder'."

Speaking to the BBC, Flynn says: "What we've seen is an email exchange - or multiple email exchanges - of information which appears to be market sensitive that was shared with, the former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown being shared by Lord Mandelson with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Now that's a profoundly serious matter it's something which yes the government should be investigating through the Cabinet Office, but I firmly believe the police should be looking at this too as a matter of potential criminality."

Reform UK have confirmed to the BBC they have reported Mandelson.

The BBC has approached Mandelson for comment. He has previously raised questions about the authenticity of some of the documents that were recently disclosed by the US justice department.

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn criticises Labour for not immediately putting forward legislation to strip Mandelson of his peerage.

He says he doesn't understand why the prime minister has not said Mandelson should be subject to a criminal investigation.

Darren Jones replies that the government has "acted accordingly" as soon as information about Mandelson's relationship with Epstein has been released by the US Department of Justice.

Labour MP Emily Thornberry asks whether "police should be involved" following recent revelations in the Epstein files.

She tells MPs that Mandelson "sent on market sensitive information to Epstein" and told him "about matters of national security".

"Surely this is not a matter of whether Peter Mandelson should be in the House of Lords, this is a matter of whether the police should be involved".

Jones tells the Commons that the actions were "wholly unconscionable" and says that criminal investigations are a matter for prosecution services and the police.

Image source, House of Commons

Continuing his response to Burghart, Jones says the cabinet secretary did in fact respond to Gordon Brown's call for an investigation in September.

"That investigation was undertaken," he says, and Brown was told in a reply that it found "no documents in relation to those questions were held by the government".

In light of new documents being release, further investigations are taking place, Jones says.

Burghart says Jones has a "duty" to tell the Commons what the prime minister knew about Mandelson's "continued" relationship with Epstein, and what documents he had seen prior to Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the US.

"If he didn't know, someone must have done," he says. "Who was it?... It is time that someone took responsibility."

Jones replies that the person that has to take responsibility for their failings is Mandelson.

He says the prime minister has stated that the declarations of interest put before him by Mandelson were "not wholly truthful" and that he "moved swiftly" to remove him as ambassador when he discovered the extent of his relationship with Epstein.

Image source, House of Commons

We now hear a response from Conservative frontbencher Alex Burghart, who says it is a "great embarrassment" to the UK that its most senior ambassador was "caught up" with a man like disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

He says it is "clearer than ever" from the US Department of Justice's latest release that theirs was a relationship built not just on affection, but on the transfer of money and information.

"In some cases this was apparently market sensitive information," Burghart adds.

As a result, Burghart welcomes the investigation into Mandelson's links with Epstein, but says it should have happened long ago - after former prime minister Gordon Brown wrote to the cabinet secretary last September.

In addition, Burghart says there should be an investigation into Mandelson's position as ambassador to the US, saying it is "entirely conceivable" he abused his role.

In appointing Mandelson, Burghart suggests, there was either a failure of the vetting system, or the government chose to brush information away.

For context: Mandelson was sacked as the UK's ambassador to the US in September after information emerged about his friendship with Epstein.

Jones continues by saying that the cabinet secretary - the most senior civil servant in the government - has been asked to review information and report back to the PM.

He tells MPs that Mandelson is no longer a Labour member and disciplinary action was under way prior to his resignation.

"The prime minister believes, as does the government, that Peter Mandelson should not retain his membership of the House of Lords or use his title," Jones says.

He tells the Commons that the government cannot remove peerages without legislation, and calls on parties including the Conservatives to "work with the government to modernise the disciplinary procedures to allow for the removal of peers who have brought the House of Lords into disrepute".

Within the latest Epstein files release were documents which "highlighted the close nature of the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson," Jones says.

This includes alleged financial transactions when Mandelson was a Labour MP and later minister, Jones says.

He says this information was "not known by the government" before the release on Friday.

The nature of the documents raise "serious concerns about Peter Mandelson's behaviour whilst a minister", Jones says.

"Peter Mandelson must account for his actions and conduct," he adds.

Jones says Mandelson's decision to continue a relationship with a convicted paedophile and discuss government business with him "falls far below the standards expected of any minister".

No government minister should ever behave in this way, he says.

Peter Mandelson has been approached for comment.

Jones starts by saying Epstein was a "despicable criminal who committed disgusting crimes" and "destroyed the lives of countless women and girls".

Epstein's victims must be the first priority, he says.

As Starmer has said, anybody with relevant information must come forward and co-operate with investigations, Jones adds.

He says the latest batch of documents released by the US Department of Justice makes it "increasingly clear" that Epstein's crimes "involved and were facilitated by many often powerful people, both by actively participating in those crimes, but also by failing to hear those victims' voices".

Image source, UK Parliament

Senior cabinet minister Darren Jones has begun his statement to the Commons on the release of the latest Epstein files by the US Department of Justice on Friday.

We will bring you the main lines here and you can follow along by pressing watch live at the top of this page.

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

Emails released by the US government suggest that Lord Mandelson gave Epstein advance notice of a €500bn bailout from the EU to save the Euro.

In the early hours of 10 May 2010 EU finance ministers agreed the deal amid concerns that a debt crisis in the Greek economy could spread to the wider Eurozone.

The evening before the announcement, Epstein emailed Mandelson to say: "sources tell me 500 b euro bailout , almost complete".

The released documents indicate that Mandelson, who was business secretary and de facto deputy prime minister, replied: "Sd be announced tonight."

Epstein then asked if Mandelson was home and received a reply, saying: "Just leaving No10..will call ".

The UK did not contribute to the bailout, but the then-chancellor Alistair Darling was present in Brussels for the negotiations.

Lord Mandelson has been approached for comment.

Image source, Reuters

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been pictured riding near the Royal Lodge on the estate surrounding Windsor Castle this morning.

It follows a number of mentions of Andrew and what appears to be more of his correspondence with Epstein in the latest US Department of Justice Epstein files release - which our royal correspondent says show Epstein relying on his royal connections.

Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, and being named or pictured in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing.

Image source, Reuters