Swinney orders audit of Scottish Government records for dealings with Mandelson

Lord Mandelson, who resigned from the House of Lords this week after more revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein were revealed, is currently under police investigation over alleged misconduct in public office.

Documents released by the US Department of Justice appeared to show the former US ambassador - who served as a minister in the governments of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair - passing government information to the disgraced paedophile financier during the financial crash.

Today, speaking to ITV Border, First Minister John Swinney questioned the Prime Minister's judgment in appointing Lord Mandelson to the role given his friendship with Epstein was already known and said he had instructed the country's top civil servant to launch a probe.

"What I'm now concerned about is that now we know there's information about the supply of material by Peter Mandelson in the financial crash to Jeffrey Epstein, I'm now concerned about the implications of that for Scotland," he said.

"So I've asked the Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Government to conduct an investigatory audit of all of our transactions at that time, and also the transactions in relation to our engagement with Peter Mandelson just last year, in relation to the issue of whisky tariffs in the United States to see if, in any way, shape or form, the position and the interests of Scotland have been undermined as a consequence of the behaviour that Peter Mandelson has been involved in.

"It is absolutely and completely unacceptable that at a time where we faced the implications of the financial crash, or even last year, when I was trying to advance the interests of Scotland, that our approach was undermined by Peter Mandelson."

A Scottish Government spokesperson confirmed the audit to LBC saying: “The First Minister welcomes the full investigation by all appropriate authorities, including the Metropolitan Police and UK Government, into the actions of Peter Mandelson.

"The First Minister has asked the Permanent Secretary to commission an investigatory audit of records to identify any meetings, government papers or correspondence involving Peter Mandelson during his time as a member or representative of the UK Government. This will enable the Scottish Government to assess any associated risks.”

John Swinney also hit out at the Prime Minister's judgment in appointing the former minister to the role in the first place, describing it as a "disastrous and very dangerous decision".

Last September Mr Swinney stayed at the ambassador's residence in Washington when he made a last-ditch bid to convince President Trump to reduce tariffs on Scottish whisky. Lord Mandelson attended the meeting with the First Minister in the Oval Office.

The visit came just as the first tranche of Epstein files which showed Peter Mandelson had continued his friendship with the American after his conviction was released. They led to his sacking as ambassador.

Yesterday a spokesman for the First Minister refused to say whether he regreted staying with Lord Mandelson.

The spokesman said: "John Swinney's doesn't pick the US Ambassador, that's obviously a massive regret...He obviously said after Lord Mandelson resigned that it was right they resigned. But we don't pick the ambassadors. And the First Minister's focus when he was out there was in securing the best deal for whisky."

The First Minister's comments come after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar told journalists Lord Mandelson should never have become US ambassador in the first place.

"It's quite clearly the case that Peter Mandelson should not have been the ambassador to the US," he said. "It's right that he is not a member of the Labour Party and he should not sit in the House of Lords.

"I've heard the Prime Minister say that had he known then what he knows now he would not have appointed Peter Mandelson as the US ambassador - that was clearly a mistake."

One of the key voices at Westminster calling for the expulsion of Lord Mandelson from the upper chamber was SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who linked the relationship of the former peer with Epstein to that of Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy and former Number 10 adviser Matthew Doyle - who has since been given a peerage - with convicted paedophile Sean Morton.

Scottish Labour fired Ms Duncan-Glancy from its front bench, with her also announcing she would not stand as a candidate in May's election, but has so far resisted pressure to remove the party whip, while Baron Doyle was not stopped from taking his seat in the upper chamber.

Mr Sarwar hit out at Mr Flynn, raising the spectre of former SNP MP Patrick Grady - who was suspended from the Commons after being found to have acted inappropriately towards a member of staff.

"I would direct this at Stephen Flynn, but also other members of the SNP," he said.

"He wants to shamefully use the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, who abused women, who clearly abused positions of power and relationships, to try and make comparisons with the situation with Pam Duncan-Glancy.

"It's frankly disgusting and beneath them.But let's contrast my actions to Stephen Flynn's actions."Pam Duncan-Glancy is no longer a member of the shadow cabinet, she is not a candidate come the next election.

"They stood by and defended and protected someone who was found guilty by standards for sexual offences - Patrick Grady.

"If he wants to question my actions and my judgments, I think he needs to seriously question his own actions and his party's judgments."

Mr Flynn was not the party's Westminster leader when Mr Grady was suspended from the Commons, but Mr Grady did return to the SNP after a six-month suspension under the Aberdeen South MP's watch.

Responding, Mr Flynn said: "Anas Sarwar has shown appalling judgment over his close relationship with Peter Mandelson and Pam Duncan-Glancy.

"He embraced Mandelson and boasted that he was his 'old friend' despite knowing that he maintained contact with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, which has been a matter of public record for many years.

"He has failed to remove the whip from Duncan-Glancy despite knowing that she has held dinner parties, and maintains a close friendship, with twice-convicted paedophile and former Scottish Labour Party councillor Sean Morton.

"Anas Sarwar cannot pass the buck for his own inaction. He is as weak as his boss Keir Starmer, and voters will take a dim view of his excuses for why he thinks it's OK for serving Scottish Labour Party MSPs to consort with convicted paedophiles and retain their party membership."