UK’s former US ambassador Peter Mandelson arrested in misconduct probe

London: Peter Mandelson, the UK’s former ambassador to the US, was arrested from his north London home on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the Metropolitan Police said.

Mandelson had resigned from the House of Lords and Labour Party earlier this month following damaging allegations related to his association with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Met Police had confirmed soon after that the force had opened an investigation into the former frontline Labour politician, who served in the Cabinet under prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.  “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office," said a Met Police spokesperson. 

"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."

"We are not able to provide further information at this stage to prevent prejudicing the integrity of the investigation,” the spokesperson said.  Following the release of documents related to Epstein by the US Department of Justice last month, Mandelson was accused of passing sensitive information during his time as the UK's business secretary onto the financier who died in a New York prison in 2019.  The revelations rocked the Keir Starmer-led government, with the British Prime Minister forced to address the matter in Parliament as the Opposition attacked his judgment over appointing the former minister to Washington DC, before being forced to sack him last year.

Meanwhile, Minister Darren Jones told the House of Commons on Monday that the first tranche of files related to Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US will be published in early March. Jones said the government will release documents in tranches as and when they are ready, rather than all at once at the end of the process.  Earlier in February, MPs from across party lines had voted to force the government to release all documents related to Peter Mandelson's appointment. 

But any documents seen as impacting national security or the UK's international relations will be referred to an independent parliamentary committee for redactions before release. Mandelson has previously denied wrongdoing, and despite his House of Lords resignation, retains his title of Lord until he is formally stripped of his peerage through parliamentary procedure.