Peter Mandelson has been arrested by detectives investigating claims he dedicated misconduct in public office throughout his friendship with the convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Video footage confirmed him being pushed away from his house in an unmarked automotive shortly after being escorted from his house by officers.
The Metropolitan police have been investigating the alleged leaking by Mandelson of Downing Street emails and market-sensitive info to Epstein.
A police spokesperson mentioned: “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
“He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview.
“This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
The former UK ambassador to the US is known to imagine he has not dedicated any offence.
A police investigation into Mandelson was opened after the discharge of information associated to the late disgraced financier.
In February, officers searched two properties linked to Mandelson, 72, in London and Wiltshire.
Then the Met deputy assistant commissioner Hayley Sewart mentioned: “The searches are related to an ongoing investigation into misconduct in public office offences, involving a 72-year-old man.”
In an earlier assertion, Sewart mentioned: “This will be a complex investigation requiring a significant amount of further evidence-gathering and analysis. It will take some time to do this work comprehensively.”
The revelations about Mandelson’s hyperlinks to Epstein have put Keir Starmer beneath intense strain over the choice to nominate Mandelson as US ambassador in December 2024.
The prime minister acknowledged he knew – as had been reported extensively in the media – that Mandelson and Epstein have been in contact after Epstein was jailed in 2008 for baby intercourse offences.
Mandelson, the grandson of the previous Labour house and international secretary Herbert Morrison, has been a big determine in the Labour social gathering for 5 a long time.
He was chosen because the social gathering’s candidate for the protected seat of Hartlepool in 1990, successful it in the 1992 basic election. An early backer of Tony Blair, he was seen as one of the important thing architects of New Labour and have become the director of Labour’s landslide 1997 basic election marketing campaign earlier than being handed a number of roles in authorities.
The Epstein revelations and ensuing furore led Mandelson to give up the Labour social gathering. He additionally resigned from the House of Lords.
