Lord Peter Mandelson has rejected claims that he intended to leave the UK amid the Jeffrey Epstein scandal that has derailed his political career.
Lawyers representing the disgraced former US ambassador said the “baseless” allegation triggered his dramatic arrest over accusations he committed misconduct in a public office by passing government documents to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
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The former Labour peer was seen being escorted from his north London home to an unmarked vehicle by detectives from the Metropolitan Police on Monday afternoon.
Mandelson was questioned for nine hours before being released on bail in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Lawyers Say Arrest Based On ‘Baseless’ Claim
In a significant development late Tuesday, his law firm Mishcon de Reya confirmed Mandelson had agreed to speak with police again “on a voluntary basis” next month.
“The arrest was prompted by a baseless suggestion that he was planning to leave the country and take up permanent residence abroad,” the lawyers said in a statement.
“There is absolutely no truth whatsoever in any such suggestion. We have asked the [Metropolitan Police] 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.”
Podcast Message Reveals Mandelson’s Response
On the News Agents podcast, Emily Maitlis read out details from a message she said Mandelson sent to a fellow journalist after his release from custody.
In it, he said that “police arrested me because they claimed the Lord Speaker received information that I was about to flee to the British Virgin Islands,” and described this as “complete fiction”.
Lord Speaker Denies Any Police Tip-Off
The Lord Speaker, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, strongly rejected claims he had alerted police.
A spokesperson said: “Any suggestion at all that the Lord Speaker received information about Lord Mandelson’s movements or communicated any such information to the Metropolitan Police Service, is entirely false and without foundation.”
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