Lord Peter Mandelson’s lawyers have said the former cabinet minister was arrested after what they said was a “baseless suggestion that he was planning to leave the country”.
The ex-Labour grandee was released on bail in the early hours of Tuesday morning after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office, which followed claims he leaked sensitive UK government information to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
His law firm Mishcon de Reya said in a statement 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 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 MPS 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.”
This is a breaking news story, more follows …
