A former Labour grandee has been accused of passing sensitive information to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein during her tenure as business secretary. He denies any wrongdoing. Lord Mandelson’s lawyers said he was arrested despite voluntarily agreeing to talk to police because someone told the Met he was planning to flee the country. In a statement to the Commons earlier, Sir Lindsay said, “Members will be aware of comments in the media regarding the arrest of Lord Mandelson.
“To prevent any false speculation, I wish to confirm that upon receiving information, which I felt was relevant, I forwarded it to the Metropolitan Police in good faith, as is my duty and responsibility.
“It is regrettable that this played out so quickly in the media. As this is a live investigation, members will understand… it would not be appropriate to comment further, and I would caution members from doing so.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police later said,
“The Met has this afternoon apologised to the Speaker of the House of Commons for inadvertently disclosing information during an investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office.”
The Guardian reported that officials were meeting with the speaker today to explain the error, which was deemed internally a serious breach of protocol.
It is understood Sir Lindsay heard information he felt he should share with UK police about Lord Mandelson during a visit to the British Virgin Islands earlier this month, while Parliament was in recess.
Lord Mandelson’s lawyers said the report to the Met that he was planning to leave the country was an “unfounded suggestion”.
He said, “There is absolutely no truth to any such suggestion. We have asked the MPS to provide us with the evidence they relied upon to justify the arrest.”
“Peter Mandelson’s overriding priority is to cooperate with the police investigation, as he has done throughout this process, and to clear his name.”
