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Lord Peter Mandelson has had his bail conditions lifted and passport returned following his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office, his lawyers have said.
The former US ambassador was arrested by the Metropolitan Police last week after they received a tip from the Speaker of the House of Commons that Mandelson posed a flight risk.
Mishcon de Reya, the law firm representing Mandelson, said in a statement on Friday that “the Metropolitan Police have removed all of Peter Mandelson’s bail conditions and returned his passport”.
“Our client did not and does not pose a flight risk and will continue to co-operate with the police investigation,” it added.
The Met said Mandelson, 72, had been released under investigation and that the investigation was ongoing.
It launched a criminal investigation into the former cabinet minister last month after it said it had received a number of complaints, including a referral from the UK government.
The arrest came after claims that Mandelson leaked confidential government information to the New York financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was a convicted paedophile.
Mandelson served at the highest levels of the British government, including as a cabinet minister, European trade commissioner and UK ambassador to the US. Mandelson has denied wrongdoing.
The Met apologised to Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, last week for “inadvertently revealing” that he was the source of a tip that Mandelson was a possible flight risk.
Hoyle passed on the information confidentially during a meeting with police officers and Cabinet Office officials after he was told by someone in the British Virgin Islands that Mandelson had plans to travel there, according to people briefed on the matter.
Mandelson’s lawyers issued a statement following his arrest saying that claims that he planned to leave the country were “baseless” and accused the Met of breaching an agreement for the former cabinet minister to talk to officers voluntarily in March.