Gordon Brown says he queried Andrew’s ‘unacceptable costs’ as trade envoy

Gordon Brown has revealed he ordered that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor be questioned about incurring “unacceptable costs” as a trade envoy in 2008, as he called for the police to widen their inquiry to include the use of public funds. The former prime minister said he asked a colleague from the business department to question Mountbatten-Windsor about his travel expenses. In a piece for the New Statesman, Brown said the former prince regularly used RAF flights, and he was told his response was to ask whether the government seriously believed he should have to travel on commercial flights. Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office as police investigated his dealings with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has been released under investigation and has denied any wrongdoing. Police had been assessing allegations that Mountbatten-Windsor shared sensitive information with Epstein when he was a UK trade envoy. Brown, who was prime minister from 2008 to 2010, said the investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor should also consider his use of public funds. “Police must now interview officials and ask for records from three government departments – the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Business and Trade and the Foreign Office – all involved in managing his trips while serving as UK trade envoy,” he wrote in the New Statesman. …