Peter Mandelson Arrested
Newscast
BBC
4.3 • 6.6K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, Peter Mandelson has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The former British ambassador to the US has been under investigation over allegations he shared market-sensitive government information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a minister.
He has not commented publicly since the Metropolitan Police launched their investigation earlier this month, but the BBC understands his position has consistently been that he has not acted in any way criminally and that he was not motivated by financial gain.
Adam and Chris are joined by UK and home affairs correspondent, Daniel Sandford.
Meanwhile, the government has announced long-awaited changes to the system for children with special educational needs and disabilities in England.
Fresh from watching the education secretary Bridget Phillipson announcing the reforms, BBC education editor Branwen Jeffreys joined Adam and Alex to break down exactly what it means.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.5 | With American politics, everything seems to be changing by the second. |
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| 0:27.9 | Let's welcome Chris Mason back to Westminster after half term. Hello, Chris. |
| 0:31.0 | Hello. |
| 0:31.4 | And we are assembling at 627 on Monday evening with some breaking news. |
| 0:36.0 | We are indeed. So we have learnt this afternoon that Lord Mandelson, |
| 0:40.4 | the former ambassador and former plenty of things at the top of Labour governments |
| 0:44.8 | over the last few decades, has been arrested. |
| 0:48.2 | So we'll discuss the events around that and what's going on in this episode of Newscast. |
| 0:53.1 | Newscast from the BBC. Fat boys sliver me in the classroom doing our violin lessons. I was the tappletail in the class. Can I have an apology, please? I trust almost nobody. That daddy has to sometimes do strong language. Next time in Moscow. I feel delulu with no salulu. Take me down to Downey Street. Let's go have a tour. |
| 1:27.7 | Blimey. Hello, it's Adam in the newscast studio. Hi, it's Chris at Westminster. And joining me here in the studio is our Home Affairs correspondent, Daniel Sanford. Hello, Daniel. Good evening on a very exciting evening. Well, yeah, and also we're getting quite used to asking people like you, Daniel, what's the actual law say about misconducts and public office |
| 1:30.0 | because that is the we're getting quite used to asking people like you, Daniel, what are, what's the actual |
| 1:27.7 | law say about misconducts in public office? Because that is the crime in connection with |
| 1:34.1 | which Lord Mandelson's been arrested this evening. Just remind us what that, what that potential |
| 1:38.8 | crime is. It's a common law crime, very undefined in many ways. I think the best, most useful way of thinking of it, |
| 1:46.9 | is it's kind of a very old-fashioned English way of describing corruption. That essentially |
| 1:51.2 | somebody who's been in the public office has allegedly done something which has been to their |
| 1:56.5 | advantage to someone else's advantage, maybe financial or some other advantage, which they |
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