Baroness Kate Hoey has delivered a damning verdict on Lord Mandelson following his departure from the House of Lords, saying she is “not surprised”.

Today Parliament’s clerk received formal notification of his intention to step down, with the retirement taking effect from February 4.

The Lord Speaker took the unusual step of informing members ahead of schedule, citing public interest as justification for the early disclosure.

“Given the public interest and for the convenience of the house, I have decided to inform the House,” the Lord Speaker stated.

Speaking to GB News after the news broke, Baroness Kate Hoey said: “He’s retired now and has gone through that process, so he would still be able to come in for dinner if he wanted to, and he can still use the facilities.

“So I don’t think that would put an end to the Bill. I think the Bill will still have to come forward, which would actually remove his title as well.

“And the reality is, when you look at some of those emails and as you say, we probably haven’t even seen everything yet, with a lot more still to come he was traitorous, wasn’t he?

“He was effectively traitorous to our own country at a time when we were in a really, really difficult situation.

“And when you then get people like Gordon Brown coming out and saying what he was trying to do even just a few months ago, it really does, I think, still come back to Downing Street and the Prime Minister.”

“It was allowed to happen, presumably because the Prime Minister said, ‘I want Peter Mandelson. I want him as my ambassador. I don’t care.’

“But I do think it’s worrying, because that vetting process, and the whole security aspect of it, is something that should worry all of us. Who else has managed to get through in a situation like this?

“And clearly, I’m sorry, it probably sounds like I’m just against the Prime Minister which I actually am anyway but the reality is that the buck ultimately stops with him.”

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Lord Mandelson set to be booted out of House of Lords as Keir Starmer fast-tracks legislation
• Top Tory demands Labour ‘transparency’ on Peter Mandelson over Jeffrey Epstein leaks
• Zia Yusuf calls on PM to resign after Peter Mandelson reported to police over Epstein payments

Under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, a life peer is allowed to resign from membership of the upper chamber.

However, a life peerage title itself cannot be given up. According to the House of Lords Library, it can only be removed through an Act of Parliament.

This means a peer who retires from the Lords keeps their title but is barred from taking part in proceedings in the upper chamber.

The last time Parliament passed legislation to strip someone of a peerage was in 1917, when titles were removed from those deemed “enemies” of the UK during the First World War.

A Downing Street spokesperson has said: “It is right that Peter Mandelson will no longer be a member of the House of Lords.

“As the prime minister said this morning, Peter Mandelson let his country down.”

Downing Street has confirmed officials are “drafting legislation” that would allow Lord Mandelson to be removed as a peer “as quickly as possible”.

Sir Keir Starmer is said to have told the Cabinet any passing on of highly sensitive Government information was “disgraceful”, adding he was “not reassured that the totality of the information has yet emerged”, in light of the latest release of Epstein files.

The Epstein files allege that Mandelson gave Epstein an advance notice of a €500billion bailout from the EU to save the Euro.

Emails also are alleged to have mentioned a tax on banker’s bonuses in this country.