The Metropolitan Police has apologised to Sir Lindsay Hoyle after officers told Peter Mandelson’s lawyers he tipped them off about claims the disgraced former peer planned to flee to the British Virgin Islands, prompting his arrest.
The Commons speaker told MPs on Wednesday that he had passed on information to the force “in good faith” after it was reported he had alerted officers that Lord Mandelson was a flight risk amid a police investigation into his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Officers from the force are set to meet Sir Lindsay to discuss the error, which is said to be regarded as a serious breach of protocol, sources told The Guardian.
The former ambassador to Washington was arrested on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he leaked sensitive government documents to Epstein when he was business secretary under Gordon Brown. He was later released on bail until May.
Lawyers for the former Labour cabinet minister on Tuesday hit back at the motivations behind his arrest and claimed it had come despite an earlier agreement that Lord Mandelson would speak to police voluntarily.
His law firm, Mishcon de Reya, said the move came after a “baseless suggestion” he was planning to leave the country and said it had asked the Metropolitan Police “for the evidence relied upon to justify the arrest”.
The Times reported that the speaker, who visited the British Virgin Islands last week, was told by a local source that the former US ambassador had been planning to flee to the British overseas territory – information he is then said to have passed on to the police.
Detectives are then said to have interviewed Sir Lindsay’s source before arresting Lord Mandelson on Monday evening.
Making a statement to the Commons in the wake of the reports, Sir Lindsay confirmed that he had passed on informatto the Metropolitan Police.
He told MPs: “Members will be aware of comments in the media regarding the arrest of Lord Mandelson.
“To prevent any inaccurate speculation, I’d like to confirm that upon receipt of information, that I felt it was relevant I pass this on to the Metropolitan Police in good faith, as is my duty and responsibility.
“It is regrettable this rapidly ended in the media. As this is a live investigation, members will understand… it would not be appropriate to make any further comment, and I’d like to caution members from doing so.”
Earlier, the peer’s lawyers said the report to the force that he was planning to leave the country was a “baseless suggestion”.
They said: “There is absolutely no truth whatsoever in any such suggestion. We have asked the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) for the evidence relied upon to justify the arrest.
“Peter Mandelson’s overriding priority is to co-operate with the police investigation, as he has done throughout this process, and to clear his name.”
His arrest follows police searches of his homes in Wiltshire and Camden earlier this month. The investigation was prompted by emails from 2009, contained in the latest tranche of Esptein files, that appeared to show Lord Mandelson had passed on an assessment by one of Mr Brown’s advisers of potential policy measures, including an “asset sales plan”.
The emails, released by the US Department of State, appeared to have been sent to Epstein after he became a convicted sex offender.
Lord Mandelson was sacked as British ambassador to the US last year and stepped down from the House of Lords over the scandal of his ongoing friendship with Epstein earlier this month. He also announced he was resigning from his membership of the Labour Party, stating that he does not want to cause “further embarrassment”, after further revelations about their relationship surfaced.
Sir Keir Starmer has faced growing scrutiny over his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as US ambassador, including a backlash from his own back benches, with his former deputy Angela Rayner among those pushing for parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee to decide what documents surrounding his hiring could be publicly released.
Lord Mandelson’s arrest comes after the arrest of the former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He is also being investigated for alleged misconduct in public office, after claims he shared sensitive information with Epstein during his time as the UK’s trade envoy.
The Metropolitan Police declined to comment on Lord Mandelson’s arrest beyond its statement issued just after 2am on Tuesday, which read: “A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation.”
The force said it would not be commenting on the leak of information to Lord Mandelson’s lawyers about Sir Lindsay’s report to the police.
