Liberal Democrats are attempting to force public disclosure of paperwork surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s controversial trade envoy appointment.
Last Thursday, Thames Valley officers took the former royal into custody over alleged misconduct in public office — specifically claims he leaked confidential material to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while representing Britain’s commercial interests abroad.
Authorities released him under investigation following questioning.
Parliamentary power play mirrors Tory tactics
The party intends to trigger a humble address through the House of Commons — leveraging the same rarely-used legislative mechanism Conservatives previously activated when demanding transparency over Lord Mandelson’s diplomatic posting — with the goal of extracting government files about Andrew’s decade-long stint as trade envoy spanning 2001 to 2011.
Party strategists want all documentation connected to how he secured the role made public, encompassing security clearance processes and any letters exchanged with Lord Mandelson reports The Independent.
Andrew has vigorously rejected suggestions of wrongdoing connected to Epstein and batted away accusations that he exploited his official position for financial benefit. Investigators will resume searching his former Royal Lodge property today.
Davey: ‘Government must come clean’
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey mounted a full-throated defence of parliamentary accountability.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey reportedly said: « The public is rightly demanding to know how Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed to represent our nation in a high-level trade role.
« The Liberal Democrats are moving a binding motion to force the Government to come clean.
« We need to see the vetting files, the due diligence reports, and the correspondence to understand how this appointment came to be, and whether glaring warning signs were missed.
« There’s also a much broader principle at stake here. No one, regardless of their title or their friends, should be beyond the scrutiny of Parliament.
« It is time to end the age of impunity, scrap rules that stifle scrutiny or debate, and ensure that everyone in public office – no matter how powerful – can be held properly to account. »
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