MPs back move to release secret files on 'rude, and arrogant' Andrew's role as trade envoy

COMMONS PAVES WAY FOR PUBLIC SCRUTINY OF EX-PRINCE

- BY MARTYN BROWN Political Editor

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor pictured returning home after arrest last week

SECRET files relating to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as a trade envoy will be made public after MPs yesterday supported their release.

The former prince was denounced in Parliament as “a rude, arrogant and entitled man” as the motion to publish the material was debated in the Commons.

He faces accusations of sharing sensitive information with paedo-phile financier Jeffrey Epstein while acting as a special representative for trade and investment between 2001 and 2011.

The royal was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office on his 66th birthday last week and released under investigation, days before former Labour business secretary Peter Mandelson was arrested on the same basis.

As Mandelson was released on bail in the early hours yesterday, the former ambassador to the US complained his arrest on Monday had been prompted by the “baseless suggestion” that he was preparing to flee to the Caribbean.

In the Commons yesterday, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey used a so-called humble address to ensure the release of the documents relating to the appointment of Mountbatten-Windsor.

However, some material cannot yet be published as police inquiries continue, MPs were told.