Bungling police made another grovelling apology today after revealing the source of a tip-off that Lord Mandelson might be a flight risk.
In extraordinary developments yesterday, Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was forced to make a statement confirming he had passed the information to Scotland Yard.
The intelligence sparked the dramatic arrest of the peer – who is under investigation over handing sensitive documents to Jeffrey Epstein – on Monday afternoon. Lord Mandelson has furiously denied the claim he could flee as ‘fiction’.
But Sir Lindsay publicly outed himself as the source after detectives seemingly told Lord Mandelson’s lawyers that his counterpart in the Upper House, Lord Forsyth, was behind the tip.
The Met apologised to Sir Lindsay last night for ‘inadvertently revealing information during an investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office’.
And in a statement today it said: ‘The Met has also apologised to the Speaker of the House of Lords, following the inadvertent revealing of information into allegations of misconduct in public office.’
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle told the House yesterday that he was clarifying the situation to avoid ‘inaccurate speculation’ – after the Lord Speaker was accused of passing on the tip
The Lord Speaker, Lord Forsyth, fiercely denied he was the one who tipped off the police
A House of Lords source said last night that the Lord Speaker would be having an urgent meeting with the Met today.
The source said Lord Forsyth wanted to know why, amid media reports attributing the information to him, he was not contacted about the issue.
The Lord Speaker was also demanding answers over why the false information was not followed by a correction and an apology from those responsible, the source said.
Lord Mandelson’s lawyers hit back at claims he could flee to the British Virgin Islands by demanding ‘evidence’ of the ‘baseless suggestion’.
The furious former Cabinet minister – who had already agreed to a voluntary interview under caution next month – told friends he had been the victim of a ‘complete fiction’.
He denies criminal wrongdoing in his relations with Epstein, or acting for personal profit.
In remarkable scenes yesterday, Sir Lindsay confirmed he was the source of the information in a statement to MPs.
‘Members will be aware of comments in the media regarding the arrest of Lord Mandelson,’ he said.
‘To prevent any inaccurate speculation, I would like to confirm that upon receipt of information that I felt was relevant, I passed this on to the Met Police in good faith as is my duty and responsibility.’
He added: ‘It is regrettable that this rapidly ended up in the media.’ He went on to caution MPs against making any further comments about ‘a live investigation’
Legal experts warned the ongoing furore being played out in public could cast a shadow over any prosecution of the ex-Cabinet minister.
The public comment on police tactics in a live case has concerned some experts who believe Mandelson’s lawyers may be considering an argument that he cannot receive a fair trial.
The disgraced former Labour grandee, who has denied any wrongdoing, is understood to have surrendered his passport and has been released on bail.
In a meeting with officials from the Cabinet Office on Monday, Sir Lindsay warned police that he had been told Mandelson had been offered a permanent residence in the British overseas territory by a wealthy sympathiser.
The information was allegedly passed on from an individual in a position of authority in the overseas territory.
The Commons Speaker visited the territory in the Caribbean last week after being invited to mark the 75th anniversary of its assembly. He met the governor and premier before addressing its parliament.
Peter Mandelson launched a furious attack on Scotland Yard for swooping on his home to detain him on Monday afternoon (pictured being taken home in the early hours of Tuesday)
Sources said he had put the information ‘on the radar’ of officers, but claimed no knowledge of the veracity of the tip.
Believing he may have been an imminent flight risk, police rushed to arrest Mandelson at his Regent’s Park home at 4.15pm that afternoon.
But Mandelson’s lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, issued a statement denouncing police for being fooled by a ‘baseless suggestion’.
A spokesman for the law firm said on Tuesday: ‘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 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.’
Mandelson is said to have told friends: ‘Despite a previous agreement between police and legal team over a voluntary interview in early March, police arrested me because they claimed… that I was about to flee to the British Virgin Islands and take up permanent residence abroad, leaving [his husband] Reinaldo, my family, home and [his dog] Jock behind me. I need hardly say this is complete fiction.’