The Metropolitan police are investigating an allegation that the former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson raped a woman inside parliament in 2016.

Scotland Yard confirmed it received a report from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on 13 October about an alleged rape in the Palace of Westminster involving a man now aged 63.

The Belfast Telegraph first reported the allegation concerning a woman from Northern Ireland. The newspaper reported that Donaldson invited the woman on a tour of the Commons where he introduced her to high-profile figures. He was said to have taken her for dinner before bringing her into the DUP’s offices in parliament.

The newspaper also reported that the woman received a photo of Donaldson during the Covid lockdown showing a filter on Snapchat across his face with a message saying: “Ready to face the world as soon as this isolation lark is over.”

The woman has been interviewed by PSNI officers, who referred the case to the Met because the alleged offence was said to have…