Lawyers Say Mandelson Arrest Was Due To ‘Baseless’ Flight Risk Claim
Peter Mandelson’s lawyers are saying that Mandelson’s arrest was “baseless” in a recent statement.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police detained the former Labour minister on Monday afternoon on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was taken to Wandsworth police station, questioned for several hours and released on bail in the early hours of Tuesday. He has been bailed until the end of May. It is understood that he surrendered his passport as part of his bail conditions.
His legal team has strongly rejected suggestions that he posed a flight risk. In a statement, they said:
"Peter Mandelson was arrested yesterday despite an agreement with the police that he would attend an interview next month on a voluntary basis. The arrest was prompted by a baseless suggestion that he was planning to leave the country and take up permanent residence abroad. 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 cooperate with the police investigation, as he has done throughout this process, and to clear his name."
According to Sky News, officers were told that he could be preparing to relocate to the British Virgin Islands, prompting them to act sooner than planned. Detectives had initially intended to interview him under caution at a later date, but after further inquiries into the flight risk claims, they decided to arrest him this week.
The investigation began earlier this month and focuses on allegations that, while serving as a minister under former prime minister Gordon Brown, Mandelson passed sensitive government information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The claims surfaced after the US Department of Justice released a batch of documents related to Epstein, including emails that appear to show Mandelson sharing internal assessments on economic policy and discussing upcoming financial measures.
Mandelson denies any wrongdoing and is understood to believe that he has not committed a criminal offence or acted for financial gain.
His arrest follows search warrants carried out at properties in Camden and Wiltshire. Consultations between police and the Crown Prosecution Service are ongoing.
