Malta moves to revoke honour for Peter Mandelson after Epstein link allegations

Malta’s Cabinet has begun formal proceedings to review and revoke the National Order of Merit awarded to former UK minister Lord Peter Mandelson, following renewed allegations about his association with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The honour, granted in 2016 as Malta sought to strengthen trade relations with Britain, is now under scrutiny after emails were published showing that he maintained a friendship with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offences. A new trove of Epstein files released in the United States has brought more details about the relationship, and new pressure on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

 In Britain, calls have intensified for Lord Mandelson to be stripped of his peerage, while the UK prime minister’s chief of staff resigned on Sunday after it emerged that he had recommended Mandelson for appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the United States.

In Malta, an Office of the Prime Minister spokesperson confirmed to The Times on Monday that the process to withdraw the decoration had been initiated.

Malta’s National Order of Merit forms part of the broader Gieħ ir-Repubblika honours system and is conferred on Maltese citizens and foreign nationals for exceptional service. The order has four grades: Companion of Honour (KUOM), Companion (KOM), Officer (UOM), and Member (MOM).

The revocation of a Maltese honour is rare but not unprecedented. In 2011, during the Arab Spring uprisings, Malta stripped former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of national honours previously bestowed upon them.

Gaddafi had been made an honorary member of the Xirka Ġieħ ir-Repubblika and an honorary Companion of the National Order of Merit in 1975. Ben Ali received honorary membership of the National Order of Merit in 2005.

 

RSS Feed Source: Independent Malta Malta moves to revoke honour for Peter Mandelson after Epstein link allegations