PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer faced calls for a full public inquiry into the ties between the royal family and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the role that Peter Mandelson played as a lobbyist.

Demands for an independent investigation have grown louder in the wake of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on Thursday morning over allegations of misconduct in public office in his decade as a trade envoy.

After developing a reputation for lavish spending and travel in the role, he was forced to step down in 2011 over his friendship with Epstein.

But the emergence of emails between them in files released by the US Department of Justice appear to show sensitive government information being passed to the paedophile financier within seconds of receipt.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor spent his 66th birthday being questioned by police before being released, but his home on his big brother Charles Windsor’s Sandringham estate and his former residence at Royal Lodge, Windsor, continue to be searched by Thames Valley Police.

The arrest has heightened calls for an inquiry not only into the power, influence and access Epstein appeared to hold over the British Establishment through his partnership with Mr Mountbatten-Windsor and godfather to the Labour right, Peter Mandelson, but the connections between between big business, political lobbying and government contracts the cases have highlighted.

Sir Keir, already under fire over his decision to appoint Mr Mandelson as ambassador to Washington knowing his links with Epstein, now faces his own allegations of impropriety.

While in Washington, Mr Mandelson, who played a key role in installing Mr Starmer as Labour leader, arranged meetings between the Prime Minister and data analytics firm, Palantir, which last year won contracts with the NHS and the Ministry of Defence for £330 million and £240m respectively.

Palantir was represented by Global Counsel, a lobbying outfit co-founded by Mr Mandelson which has gone into administration.

Your Party’s Jeremy Corbyn, an independent MP and long-time critic of Mr Mandelson and his network, told the Morning Star: “We need an inquiry that goes even wider as I called for in the debate of the business and political links between Epstein and the royal family and Mandelson both as a lobbyist and ambassador. 

“A start would be the Prime Minister explaining why he met Palantir in Washington with Mandelson and how it became a preferred MoD and NHS contractor.”

Mr Corbyn’s calls were echoed by Labour MP Richard Burgon, who, in a post on social media said: “After Andrew’s arrest, there must be an independent inquiry into what the royal family knew about his Epstein links.

“It’s time for a serious national debate about abolishing the monarchy. Even if you disagree, we should discuss the role of hereditary privilege in our democracy.”

Mr Burgon’s recognition that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest should spark a broader debate on the future of power conferred by accident of birth was backed by Green Party leader Zack Polanski.

Speaking from the campaign trail at the Gorton & Denton by-election, Mr Polanski said: “We really need a full statutory inquiry into public figures from institutions, where crimes have been committed – if they’ve been committed – what we knew, what other people in those institutions knew and, where necessary, to make sure that the appropriate people are removed.

“I think issues like this certainly don’t help the monarchy’s case.”

While Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest relates to allegations of inappropriate sharing of information as a trade envoy, they do not relate to separate allegations made by the late Virginia Giuffre.

Ms Giuffre had long accused Epstein of trafficking her as a teenager, forcing her to have sex with Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, allegations he continues to deny, despite reaching an out-of-court settlement with her.

But Ms Giuffre’s accusations were instrumental in encouraging other victims of Epstein’s ring to come forward and in pressing US authorities into releasing the more than three million files relating to the paedophile and his associates.

Women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents some of Epstein’s victims, argued that authorities had been swift to act on allegations of dodgy business dealings but not on allegations of abuse.

She told BBC Radio Four: “The state has acted quickly to make this arrest but there still has not been any action on the part of the police on allegations that Andrew has committed crimes against women.

“Apparently allegations concerning the state trade secrets and/or allegations of financial crimes are given priority and quick action while allegations of rape and child sexual abuse and sex trafficking take many years to investigate and do not result in arrests and accountability for victims who are women and girls.”

She said, however, that Britain is ahead of the US in demanding some accountability, adding: “And in contrast to the United States, there has been no accountability in the criminal justice system and no meaningful accountability in the civil justice system in the United States for powerful men who have conspired with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse or sex traffic children and adult female victims.”

Ms Allred argued that the US Department of Justice was “in a way, acting as the president’s own private law firm” and that some documents remained undisclosed, despite congress passing statute compelling it.

She concluded: “We can’t see all of the files, and it seems as though survivors have been punished by having their names released, while the names of alleged perpetrators, in some cases – rich, powerful, famous men – those have been covered up.”