Keir Starmer was “too slow” to address the Lord Mandelson scandal and Labour “must clean up or pay a heavy price”, Gordon Brown has warned.

The former Prime Minister’s rare intervention comes as the peer was placed under investigation for his links to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Among the accusations are that Lord Mandelson leaked market-sensitive No10 documents to Epstein during the 2008 financial crisis, while serving in Mr Brown’s cabinet.

On Friday night, police raided Lord Mandelson’s homes in Camden and Wiltshire as part of an inquiry into alleged misconduct in public office.

Mr Brown admitted he regretted appointing Lord Mandelson in 2008, describing the alleged leaking of commercially sensitive material as “a betrayal of everything we stand for as a country” and “a financial crime”.

“I have to take personal responsibility for appointing Mandelson to his ministerial role in 2008. I greatly regret this appointment.”

While insisting Sir Keir is “a man of integrity” who “wants to do the right things”, Mr Brown suggested he had acted too slowly in the matter.

“Perhaps he’s been too slow to do the right thing. But he must do the right things now,” he said, urging the Prime Minister to act decisively.

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