Peter Mandelson , former eminence grise of Tony Blair's New Labour and former British ambassador to the US , has been arrested as part of the criminal investigation into classified government information and documents shared , when he was a minister, with the late American paedophile fixer Jeffrey Epstein . Sky News has revealed.

The Metropolitan Police said the arrest was made on charges of " misconduct in public office ." Footage released shows Mandelson leaving his Camden home in London, escorted by two plainclothes officers who put him in a car. The arrest followed searches by Scotland Yard at two of the former eminence grise's properties , one in the British capital and the other in Wiltshire (southwest England).

The controversial leaks , brought to light by emails published in the US regarding the Epstein scandal, concern information passed from Mandelson, when he was a minister, to the fixer between 2009 and 2010 , regarding the fiscal tightening of bankers' bonuses after the 2008 crisis and the approval of the mega-€500 billion EU intervention to bail out European banks. This material has been classified as sensitive for financial markets . The affair involving Mandelson, who was chosen by Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer first as an advisor and then as British envoy to Washington before being fired, had unleashed a political storm over the prime minister, severely compromising his leadership. Shortly before his arrest, Minister Darren Jones had told the House of Commons that the first tranche of documents relating to Mandelson's appointment as British envoy to the US will be published starting next month, as strongly requested by opposition parties.

Jones added that one of these documents is the subject of the London police's ongoing investigation into Mandelson and will therefore be released at a later date in consultation with Scotland Yard. This is the second high-profile arrest in the UK in the Epstein scandal, following that of the former Prince Andrew.

(Unioneonline)

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