Mandelson’s conduct ‘totally outrageous’, says Streetingpublished at 07:56 GMT
07:56 GMT
Image source, BBC/BBC Breakfast
We can now bring you the latest from Health Secretary Wes Streeting who, after discussing a new government strategy to improve survival rates for people with cancer, is asked about the Met Police investigation into Peter Mandelson.
Mandelson has stepped down from the House of Lords but is keeping his title – is that right?, Streeting is asked.
“No, the PM is not going to accept that,” he replies.
Starmer has already ordered officials to draw up plans to ensure Mandelson is stripped of his title, he adds.
For context: Members of the House of Lords can give up their membership of the chamber, as Lord Mandelson has said he will do. Stripping the title would require an act of Parliament
Streeting says he’s not going to comment on a police investigation – because it would be inappropriate to do that when it’s ongoing – but he says he doesn’t need a copy of the ministerial code to know that what Mandelson did was “completely wrong, totally outrageous and to be honest quite shocking.”
What we’ve seen is a serving government minister sending the most sensitive private information to an outsider, he says.
It was clear to the PM that what he was not told was the full truth, when he appointed Mandelson as US ambassador.