PETER MANDELSON, the European Trade Commissioner, has angrily dismissed the controversy over a free holiday in the Caribbean as “Brussels tittle-tattle”, insisting that he has done nothing wrong.

Asked if there was a conflict of interest between being a commissioner and accepting free hospitality, Mr Mandelson, who resigned from the Cabinet twice over allegations of sleaze, replied: “I don’t think you even have to ask that question.”

It emerged on Monday that Mr Mandelson had tacked on a four-day holiday with friends in the Caribbean to an official mission to the region in January. His office insisted that he was staying with longstanding friends, that there was no conflict of interest, that no public cost was incurred and that he had complied with the European Commission code of conduct.

His staff have refused to disclose where he stayed on the ground that his hosts have a right to privacy, but they have also refused to disclose which taxpayer-funded flights he took to the Caribbean for the trade meetings in Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.

The news of his Caribbean holiday leaked out after Mr Mandelson had agreed to a Commission statement saying that no commissioner had accepted any improper hospitality. Under European Union rules, commissioners are allowed to accept unlimited hospitality, but it is up to them to decide whether or not it represents a conflict of interest and should be declared.

The statement, which insisted that commissioners had a right to privacy and had nothing to disclose, was made in response to questions for information by Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party in the European Parliament.

Mr Farage insisted: “Mr Blair was warned about this when he appointed Mr Mandelson. If Mr Mandelson’s holiday was so innocent, why did he refuse to disclose it? And why has he still not given details as to who these people were?”

Asked yesterday whether he wanted to put the record straight, Mr Mandelson, who is on an official trip to Mali, insisted: “There is no record to be put straight.” He added: “I think that’s enough, thank you. Now do you want to talk about cotton, about poverty in Africa, about the needs of developing countries, or do you want to retell Brussels tittle-tattle?”

It has also emerged that José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, went on a free week-long tour with his family on the luxury yacht of Spiro Latsis, a Greek shipping, construction and banking multibillionaire, whose businesses are heavily regulated by the Commission and whose companies have strong links to the EU. The value of the cruise has been reported to be €20,000 (£13,700), but his spokeswoman insisted that it was a private trip with a friend he has known since university.

However, the extent of the links between Mr Latsis and the European Commission started to emerge yesterday when the Commission admitted it had given an exclusive contract with Eurobank, owned by Mr Latsis, to handle the transfers of money from the EU to Greece. The contract was signed in 1999 and lasted until 2004, when it was not renewed.

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