Wes Streeting has said Peter Mandelson must do the "right thing" and return the £77,000 tax-payer funded payout he received after he was sacked by No10.
The payment to Lord Mandelson, who initially vied for a hefty sum of £550,000, was revealed in the first batch of documents his vetting process which he underwent to become UK ambassador to the US.
The figure, which was described as "good value for money" by Foreign Office boss Sir Oliver Robbins, fell well short of his original "inappropriate and unacceptable" demand.
Today, the Health Secretary said: "The reason that money was paid out at all was because the alternative was a potentially costly legal battle that would have cost the taxpayer even more than that sum of money.
"I hope Peter Mandelson will do the right thing and either return it or, better still, donate it to charity.
"But that's why a payment was made at all."
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