Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle Told Police Mandelson Planned To Abscond

House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle tipped off police that Lord Peter Mandelson was allegedly planning to flee the UK, it has emerged.

The former Labour peer was arrested by Metropolitan Police detectives on Monday over claims he committed misconduct in a public office by passing sensitive information to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he was business secretary after the 2008 financial crash.

Mandelson, the UK’s former ambassador to Washington, was questioned for nine hours before being released on bail in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday night, his law firm Mishcon de Reya said Mandelson had previously agreed to be questioned by police “on a voluntary basis” next month.

They said he was arrested following “baseless” claims that he was planning to abscond to the British Virgin Islands.

The Times first reported that the source of that information was Hoyle, who claimed to have been told while visiting the Caribbean islands himself last week.

A Commons source told HuffPost UK: “It’s the talk of the town – he has messed up badly.”

In a statement to MPs, Hoyle said: “Members will be aware of comments in the media regarding the arrest of Lord Mandelson.

“To prevent any inaccurate speculation, I’d like to confirm that upon receipt of information, that I felt it was relevant I pass this on to the Metropolitan Police in good faith, as is my duty and responsibility.”

In a bizarre twist, Mandelson was mistakenly told by police that they had been tipped off by the Lord Speaker, Michael Forsyth, forcing him to put out a statement denying it.

He said: “Any suggestion at all that the Lord Speaker received information about Lord Mandelson’s movements or communicated any such information to the Metropolitan Police Service, is entirely false and without foundation.”

In their statement, Mandelson’s lawyers said: “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 [Metropolitan Police] 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.”