Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
FT editor Roula Khalaf selects her favorite stories in this weekly newspaper.
The Speaker of the House of Commons gave a tip to the Metropolitan Police that Lord Peter Mandelson was attempting to flee to the British Virgin Islands, leading to the arrest of the former US Ambassador.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle confirmed in the Commons chamber on Wednesday morning that he was the same person who told the Met that his former Labor colleague was a potential flight risk.
Mandelson’s lawyers issued a statement on Tuesday evening saying any suggestion he planned to leave the country was “baseless”, and accused the Met of breaching an agreement the former Cabinet minister had made in March to voluntarily talk to authorities.
People close to the police investigation stressed that the Met did not rely solely on Hoyle’s information, but had done a “professional job” and conducted other investigations to assess whether Mandelson was a flight risk.
He said that although the BVI had an extradition treaty with Britain, it was easier to fly from the tax haven to other destinations “like South America”. Mandelson’s husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, is Brazilian.
Mishcon de Reya, the law firm representing the former ambassador, said on Tuesday evening: “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 made based on an unfounded suggestion that he was planning to leave the country and take up permanent residence abroad,” it said. “There is absolutely no truth to any such suggestion.”
On Wednesday, Hoyle said he was the source of information that led to the Met arresting Mandelson and releasing him on bail after a nine-hour interrogation.
“Members will be aware of comments in the media regarding the arrest of Lord Mandelson,” Hoyle told MPs. “To prevent any erroneous speculation, I wish to confirm that upon receiving information which I felt was relevant, I passed it on in good faith to the Metropolitan Police as is my duty and responsibility.”
Mandelson’s associates initially claimed that the Speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Forsyth of Drumlin, had given the tip to the police, which they later revealed was completely false.
Police insiders did not deny that Met officers told Mandelson that they had received a tip from the Speaker, but there was confusion over whether it was the Speaker of the Commons or the Lords, the two houses of Parliament.
Hoyle, who was elected a Labor MP but now presides over the Commons as a non-aligned speaker, visited the BVI last week.
According to a colleague, he was told by someone in the tax haven and British overseas territory that Mandelson planned to travel there.
Mandelson has since told his friends that it was “complete fiction”.
Hoyle approached Scotland Yard with the information at a meeting on Monday morning, just hours before plain-clothes Met officers arrested Mandelson on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The Met has not apologized to Mandelson and people close to the investigation insist they still believe he is a flight risk. Bail conditions may require surrender of passports to prevent international travel.
Mandelson’s arrest follows claims that he leaked UK government memos to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when he was a cabinet minister.
The Met launched a criminal investigation into Mandelson, who was business secretary and de facto deputy prime minister, in 2009 and 2010 after it said it had received numerous complaints, including referrals from the UK government.
