Met apologises to Commons speaker for sharing tip-off with Mandelson’s lawyers

The Metropolitan Police has apologised to the Commons speaker for giving Peter Mandelson’s lawyers information pointing to him as the source of a claim that the former UK ambassador planned to flee the country.Senior Scotland Yard officers are also understood to be meeting in person with Lindsay Hoyle on Wednesday afternoon to explain their error, which is regarded internally as a serious breach of protocol.An official custody document shared with Mandelson’s lawyers is understood to have referred to the Lord speaker as the source of the information – a mistaken reference to Hoyle, the Commons speaker.Hoyle then told MPs that he had shared the information with police “in good faith” during what the Guardian understands was a meeting with detectives investigating Mandelson on Monday.The former UK ambassador was arrested later that day on suspicion of misconduct in a public office in relation to allegations he passed on sensitive government information to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing.Peter Mandelson (right) being escorted to a car in London on Monday. Photograph: APScotland Yard is understood to have then conducted its own assessment of the information passed on by the speaker before deciding to arrest Mandelson, who has denied planning to flee to the British Virgin Islands.His lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, have written to the Met asking upon what evidence they based the arrest. Mandelson was released on bail in the early hours of Tuesday morning and is understood to have surrendered his passport under his bail conditions.The information that Mandelson was planning to travel to the British Virgin Islands was passed on to Hoyle from an individual in a position of authority in the overseas territory, the Guardian understands.The Commons speaker visited the BVI, in the Caribbean, last week after being invited to mark the 75th anniversary of the territory’s assembly. He met the governor and premier before addressing its parliament over the course of the three-day trip.In a statement to the Commons on Mandelson’s arrest, Hoyle said: “To prevent any inaccurate speculation, I’d like to confirm that upon receipt of information, I felt it was relevant I pass this on to the Metropolitan Police in good faith, as is my duty and responsibility.”Sources said he had put the information “on the radar” of senior officers during a meeting earlier this week, but that he had not claimed any knowledge of the veracity of the tip.In a statement on Tuesday evening, Mandelson’s lawyers said the Met had agreed to interview the disgraced former ambassador to Washington under caution next month rather than arrest him over claims that he had passed sensitive information to Epstein during his time as business secretary.Mandelson is understood to have told friends at about 4am on Tuesday, hours after his release, that the claims he was preparing to leave the UK for the British Virgin Islands were completely false. His lawyers said his “overriding priority” was cooperating with the police.His message to friends said: “Despite previous agreement between police and legal team over 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 Reinaldo [Avila da Silva], my family, home and Jock [his dog] behind me,” he wrote.“I need hardly say complete fiction. The police were told only today that they had to improvise an arrest. The question is, who or what is behind this?”Early reports suggested that the lord speaker, Michael Forsyth, was involved in passing on a tip to Scotland Yard. A spokesperson for Forsyth said this was “entirely false and without foundation”.The government has committed to releasing a mass of documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to Washington in late 2024. He was sacked in September last year after details emerged about the extent and duration of his links to Epstein.Under a Commons motion pushed earlier this month by the Conservatives, ministers are committed to releasing many thousands of files connected to the appointment, which is expected to be a lengthy process.A first batch is being prioritised for imminent release. These have no relevance to the police inquiry, and do not have any potential consequences for national security or international relations, and so do not need to be checked by parliament’s intelligence and security committee, as agreed under the motion.The timeline for other documents is, in contrast, described by officials as requiring “a number of weeks”, even with the Cabinet Office recruiting internal volunteers to help with the process.The Met declined to comment.