Euan Blair's £1.2billion AI firm put pressure on the BBC to pull an episode of Have I Got News For You, it emerged today.

The show watched by 3million people on Friday night was axed from iPlayer on Saturday after host Victoria Coren Mitchell wrongly linked Sir Tony Blair's son to Sir Keir Starmer's proposed ID card scheme.

Ms Coren Mitchell had read out a cue card claiming Labour had handed a mega-contract to Multiverse, a tech company set up and run by Euan Blair, who is said to be even richer than his father with an estimated net worth of £375million.

The BBC apologised and pulled the episode from iPlayer before editing the section out and putting it back on the streaming platform over the weekend.

It came after it emerged in the Mail on Sunday how Tony Blair secretly lobbied for a billionaire backer who could make millions of pounds from Mr Starmer's digital ID cards plan - a policy the former PM has long championed.

Ms Coren Mitchell said on Have I Got News For You that Euan Blair's business would benefit from the controversial policy, calling it a 'happy coincidence'. The BBC later apologised and called it an 'unintentional editorial oversight'.

Multiverse complained to the BBC on Saturday morning, the Daily Mail understands, and later tweeted their thanks to Victoria Coren Mitchell after she posted a tweet admitting the error and blaming 'fact-checkers'.

But questions remain about how the claim appeared in the show's script as well as when and how the BBC picked up on the error.

Multiverse has publicly thanked Ms Coren Mitchell for making a 'speedy correction'.

She had said on Saturday: 'If you see a clip of me saying the ID card contract has gone to Tony Blair's son: it hasn't. That was something I was given to ask about last night, but turns out to be incorrect. Which is bad news for the fact checkers but good news for social mobility'.

The AI firm then retweeted her words. 

The tech company also said in a tongue-in-cheek post that while they are experts in 'upskilling the workforce in data and AI', they do not know how to 'do a brilliant job hosting a comedy quiz show' or 'how to build a digital ID system'.

Despite their semi-light-hearted tweet, behind the scenes Euan Blair and execs at his company are understood to be fuming.

Viral social media posts falsely claimed that Multiverse had been chosen to develop the government's proposed digital ID scheme.

The company insist there is 'no truth' in the claims, while the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology also deny it and have briefed that any scheme would be designed, built and run in-house rather than by the private sector.

The latest instalment of Have I Got News For You, which aired on October 3, saw Victoria, 53, host the panel alongside Sheila Hancock, 92, Miles Jupp, 46, Paul Merton, 68, and Ian Hislop, 65. 

The Government wants every adult in Britain to have a digital ID card.

During the now deleted segment of the show, Victoria asked: 'Who is set to benefit from the introduction of ID cards?'

Paul Merton replied: 'ID card manufactures.' 

'Yes... one particular one, do you know who that is?' Victoria asked. 

She went on: 'I was thinking of the company Multiverse, whose been chosen to run the digital ID card scheme. Whose company is that?' 

Ian Hislop asked: 'Is that the man who has got links to the Labour party?'

Victoria said: 'It's Euan Blair. 

'That's a happy coincidence isn't it?' 

Over the weekend the episode was taken down from iPlayer.

Victoria then took to Twitter.  

'That was something I was given to ask about last night, but turns out to be incorrect', she said.

'Which is bad news for the fact checkers but good news for social mobility.'  

Meanwhile replying to another tweet about the episode, Victoria said: 'Yes, not him at all apparently!

'Of course I don't make the list of news stories to bring up, I just get given it, but I should probably have been more surprised. Duh. 

'I'm glad to hear that wasn't an instance of nepotism at all and has been taken out of the show.' 

The episode was pulled from iPlayer, however clips of the moment have circulated online.

It is now available to watch again and the segment has been edited out. 

A BBC spokesperson said: 'This week's Have I Got News For You contained an inaccurate story about Euan Blair's company, Multiverse, being chosen to develop the government's contract to produce digital ID cards. 

'Multiverse is not a software developer and there is no evidence of any involvement in the proposed digital ID scheme, therefore we have taken the episode off BBC iPlayer while we edit the relevant section out. 

'We apologise for this unintentional editorial oversight.'

Multiverse is an educational technology company that was founded in 2016 by Euan Blair and Sophie Adelman. 

But they are absolutely clear they have no connection at all to the ID cards scheme being plotted by Labour. 

Documents seen by The Mail on Sunday revealed a week ago that Euan's father Tony Blair urged Business Secretary Peter Kyle to consult a technology institute founded by his friend Larry Ellison in a private meeting last year.

Mr Ellison, the world's second richest man, has donated or pledged a staggering £257million for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. 

He founded the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), a research centre in Oxford, and is chairman of tech giant Oracle, which has a £700million IT deal with four Whitehall departments.

Experts say Oracle is now in pole position to profit from plans to force millions of adults to sign up for a digital ID card.

And an exclusive MoS analysis revealed that after Sir Tony's meeting with Mr Kyle, Mr Ellison's organisations have enjoyed astonishing access to the very top of Government.

Indeed, staff from Oracle and EIT have met with ministers and senior officials no fewer than 29 times in nine months.

Mr Kyle, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have met bosses from Oracle.

Meanwhile science minister Lord Vallance has met EIT representatives seven times – one was to discuss 'EIT plans for expansion and alignment with Government's priorities', official records show.

Sir Tony has had a decades-long 'bromance' with Mr Ellison, who is worth £290billion, and last year enjoyed a lavish Mediterranean holiday on his superyacht.

Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: 'Despite Keir Starmer's promises of a 'crackdown on cronyism', these revelations show it runs right to the very top of this rotten Labour Government.

'Tony Blair lobbying Peter Kyle to set up meetings with groups linked to Larry Ellison – now in pole position for the Government's Digital ID contract – reeks of a blatant conflict of interest. This has all the hallmarks of yet another cosy deal between Labour insiders and powerful vested interests.'

Official papers released under Freedom of Information laws show Sir Tony met Mr Kyle, then technology secretary, at the former PM's London office on September 12, 2024.

During the meeting Sir Tony 'noted the work of the Ellison Institute... and recommended that SoS [Secretary of State Peter Kyle] sought a briefing on their work', according to official civil service minutes obtained by investigative website Democracy for Sale. He highlighted how the institute could become 'an excellent resource'.

The documents show an official at Mr Kyle's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology was instructed to 'look at how we should engage' with the institute. Sir Tony is among a 'faculty of fellows' at EIT, whose campus in Oxford is due to be completed in 2027.

The papers also show that Sir Tony asked the cabinet minister 'where he could support the department' and highlighted the huge cost savings that digital identity cards could bring.

'TB noted that the Indian Government had saved $15 billion in fraudulent costs using digital ID,' the minutes of the meeting state. 

On Saturday, representatives for Sir Tony said that in the meeting he discussed 'the investment Larry Ellison is making in science and technology in the UK'.

Keir Starmer has provoked a backlash after announcing that anyone who wants to work in the UK will need a digital ID card.

Sir Tony has long championed the policy and his think-tank told the MoS on Saturday that the roll-out would 'boost the British economy'.