Gordon Brown has written to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley “with information relevant to his investigation of Lord Mandelson’s disclosure of market sensitive and confidential Government information” to Jeffrey Epstein.

The Labour peer was Business Secretary during Brown’s premiership when he appears to have leaked an economic briefing to Epstein, who was serving a jail sentence at the time for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Mr Brown told the Press Association: “I have today written to the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley with information relevant to his investigation of Lord Mandelson’s disclosure of market sensitive and confidential government information to the American financier, Jeffrey Epstein, an inexcusable and unpatriotic act at a time when the whole government and country were attempting to address the global financial crisis that was damaging so many livelihoods.”

Lord Mandelson will quit the House of Lords from Wednesday following fury over his links to convicted pedophile Epstein.

He will keep his title as a peerage is bestowed for life, unless the Government changes the law.

The latest tranche of documents released by authorities in the US on Friday show Epstein was sent internal discussions from the top of the UK government in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash.

No 10  revealed the Cabinet Office has referred material to the police after an initial review of documents released as part of the so-called Epstein files found they contained “likely market sensitive information” and official handling safeguards had been “compromised”.

The Prime Minister told his Cabinet on Tuesday that the alleged transmission of emails of highly sensitive government business was “disgraceful” amid accusations that the peer leaked information to the paedophile financier.

In a readout of Cabinet, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Sir Keir opened the meeting by addressing “recent developments relating to Peter Mandelson”.

“The Prime Minister said he was appalled by the information that had emerged over the weekend in the Epstein files,” he said.

“He said the alleged passing-on of emails of highly sensitive Government business was disgraceful, adding that he was not reassured that the totality of information had yet emerged.

“The Prime Minister told Cabinet that Peter Mandelson should no longer be a member of the House of Lords or use the title, and said he had asked the Cabinet Secretary to review all available information regarding Mandelson’s contact with Jeffrey Epstein during his time serving as a government minister.

“He said he’d made it clear the Government would co-operate with the police in any inquiries they carried out, but he said the Government had to press and go further, working at speed in the Lords, including legislatively if necessary.

“He reiterated that there was a need to move at pace.

“The Prime Minister said Peter Mandelson had let his country down.”