Tory MP Julia Lopez has launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer following the arrest of Lord Peter Mandelson, declaring the Prime Minister “cannot govern” in the wake of recent developments.
Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Science Secretary said the appointment of Lord Mandelson “absolutely raises questions” about Sir Keir’s judgement in office.
Mrs Lopez said: “Well, it absolutely raises questions about the Prime Minister’s judgment. If you remember, in September, when Kemi [Badenoch] asked the Prime Minister if he had full confidence in Peter Mandelson, the Prime Minister said that he did, and he said that knowing full well about the ongoing links with [Jeffrey] Epstein and Mandelson after Epstein was released from prison.
“The Prime Minister later admitted on the floor of the House that he was aware of that information, and at that point, the air went out of the room, and this does certainly beg questions.”
Lord Mandelson has been released on bail by the Metropolitan Police following his arrest on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
In a statement, the force confirmed: “A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation.
“He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, February 23 and was taken to a London police station for interview.
“This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas. We are not able to provide further information at this stage to prevent prejudicing the integrity of the investigation.”
Tory MP Julia Lopez has declared Keir Starmer ‘cannot govern’ following the arrest of Peter Mandelson
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GB NEWS / PA
Stressing how “high risk” a figure such as Lord Mandelson is following his arrest, the Tory MP explained: “Peter Mandelson is not a low risk figure. He has been sacked from his roles in the New Labour Government before, and Keir Starmer decided that it was a risk worth taking.
“Ministers effectively admitted as much that they thought that, yes, he’s a risky figure, but he comes with other benefits.
“And it was not just the issues with the Epstein relationship, there are questions to be asked about the deals that were being done when Peter Mandelson was the ambassador to the United States and the questions about a defence deal that was done that wasn’t fully transparent, so there is a lot to unpick here.”
She added: “And the fact is we’re now going to have a whole bunch of papers released over a very long period of time, and as those those papers are released, it’s going to ask more and more and more questions of the Government, and of Keir Starmer and his judgement.”
The former US ambassador was seen being led away from his home by police on Monday afternoon | POOL
Taking aim at Sir Keir, Mrs Lopez accused the Prime Minister of having “lost authority” of his Government.
She told GB News: “And the problem is now in the meantime, the Prime Minister cannot govern. There are rebellions brewing left, right and centre among Labour MPs and he has lost all authority.
“And that’s a real problem for your viewers because they care about things like, are we going to get immigration reform? Are we going to get welfare reform? Are we going to see jury trials scrapped?”
She made clear: “On the case of jury trials, we hope we can’t get those those things through.
Mrs Lopez told GB News that Sir Keir has ‘lost authority’ of his Government
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GB NEWS
“But on other things that are important to the management of the country, we have to really worry that we have somebody at the top who doesn’t actually have any authority anymore.”
Earlier this month, the peer resigned his Labour membership and said he has “no record or recollection” of alleged financial payments made to him by Epstein.
Mr Mandelson has previously said of his relations with Epstein: “I was never culpable or complicit in his crimes like everyone else.
“I learned the actual truth about him after his death, and he added that he had relied on assurances of his innocence,” he said. “That turned out later to be horrendously false.”
Lord Mandelson has not responded to previous requests for comment, but we understand that prior to his arrest, his position was he has not acted criminally and did not act for personal gain.