Lord Speaker to meet Met after he was misidentified as source of Mandelson info

The Speaker of the House of Lords will meet with the Metropolitan Police on Thursday, after he was incorrectly identified as the source of information which led to Lord Peter Mandelson’s arrest.

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean was wrongly said in some media reports to have passed information to the police ahead of the former ambassador to Washington’s arrest on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Lord Mandelson, who has been accused of passing sensitive information on to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein during his time as business secretary, has been bailed until May.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle on Wednesday revealed he was the source of the information about Lord Mandelson, after media reports suggested the Met had arrested the peer because he could be a flight risk.

His lawyers said this was a “baseless suggestion”.

A House of Lords source said the Lord Speaker is having an urgent meeting with the Met on Thursday and expects to receive clarification about how he came to be incorrectly named.

The source said Lord Forsyth wants to know why, amid media reports attributing the information to him, he was not contacted about the issue.

The Lord Speaker also has questions about why the false information was not followed by a correction and an apology from those responsible, the source said.

In a statement to the Commons on Wednesday, Sir Lindsay said he had passed information “to the Metropolitan Police in good faith, as is my duty and responsibility”.

Sir Lindsay is understood to have heard information which he felt he had to share with the police as he visited the British Virgin Islands between February 16 and 20, while Parliament was in recess.

The Met apologised to Sir Lindsay for “inadvertently revealing information during an investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office”.

It is understood it will offer the same apology to the Lord Speaker.

Emails from 2009, released as part of the so-called Epstein files, appear to show Lord Mandelson passed on an assessment by Gordon Brown’s adviser of potential policy measures, including an “asset sales plan”.

He also appeared to discuss a tax on bankers’ bonuses and confirm an imminent bailout package for the euro the day before it was announced in 2010.

The emails appeared to be sent to Epstein after he became a convicted sex offender.

Lord Mandelson was taken into custody after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest last week, also on suspicion of misconduct in public office, after allegations he shared sensitive information with Epstein during his time as the UK’s trade envoy.

Elsewhere, a minister criticised Kemi Badenoch’s decision to describe Labour as a “paedo defenders party” during Prime Minister’s Questions this week.

The opposition leader’s jibe followed reporting by The Times that female Labour MPs had told Sir Keir earlier this month that voters had “screamed” the phrase at them in the street over the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Communities minister Alison McGovern was asked her opinion on Mrs Badenoch’s use of the phrase by broadcaster LBC.

She replied: “I think it’s not good.

“Yesterday in the House of Commons, when she used that language, I think there were lots of people on all sides of the House of Commons that felt that that’s not good.

“I would say we’ve seen this across all parties, where we need to remember that we as politicians are responsible for the words we say, and that we can debate issues in a very serious, robust and forthright way, without using the language that’s going to be inflammatory and make the whole situation of the challenges we are facing in communities much worse.”

But shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge robustly defended his boss.

He told the Press Association: “This was said by a Labour MP. This phrase was quoted by the Times from a Labour MP, and Kemi Badenoch simply relayed that back to the House, and she’s not doing it crassly, these are incredibly serious issues.”

Mr Cartlidge added: “If you look at what happened with Peter Mandelson – our ambassador to United States, our closest ally – closely involved with someone who had been found guilty of child prostitution, and who we now are hearing all these terrible stories about.

“It is going to be one of the greatest scandals in British politics, if it isn’t already. These are very serious matters. She didn’t use it crassly. She used it to underline how serious the situation is and how the Prime Minister needs to get a grip.”