UK government agrees framework on publishing Mandelson vetting documents

LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Britain's government has agreed a framework with the police on which documents relating to the late 2024 appointment of former ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson can be released, the Intelligence and Security Committee said on Thursday.

Mandelson, 72, was released from custody after the Metropolitan Police arrested him on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following revelations over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Mandelson's relationship with Epstein is at the centre of a British political scandal that has prompted calls for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to step down.

Material about the vetting and appointment of Mandelson is currently being received by the Cabinet Office from across government, and it is hoped some of it will be published shortly, the committee said.

It added that officials have confirmed in writing that decisions on publishing any material sent to the ISC are for the committee alone.

Mandelson's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Emails between Mandelson and Epstein, released by the U.S. Department of Justice in late January, showed the two men had a closer relationship than had been publicly known, and Mandelson had shared information with the financier when he was a minister in former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government in 2009.

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Toby Chopra)