Government set to publish ‘over 1,000 pages’ in subsequent wave of Mandelson information
More than 1,000 pages of information will reportedly be released on Monday and could contain embarrassing private exchanges between top ministers and the sacked diplomat
Lord Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to Washington in September 2025(Image: Carl Court/PA Wire)
Keir Starmer faces more political agony as the government prepares to publish the next wave of files relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.
More than 1,000 pages of information will reportedly be released on Monday and could contain embarrassing private exchanges between top ministers and the sacked diplomat. But the Guardian reported the trove of documents will not contain any record to mitigate serious security concerns and flags raised over his appointment.
The Prime Minister agreed to MPs’ demands earlier this year to release the documents relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment in 2024 after questions over how the peer was vetted and what was known about his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Starmer has repeatedly apologised to Epstein’s victims over the saga and claimed the New Labour architect lied to him. But the scandal has engulfed his government in recent months, sparked fury among backbench MPs, and called Mr Starmer’s judgement into question.
In February it led to the resignation of his Downing Street chief-of-staff Morgan McSweeney, who was central to Labour’s landslide election victory in July 2024. He said in a statement at the time: “The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself.
“When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice. In public life responsibility must be owned when it matters most, not just when it is most convenient. In the circumstances, the only honourable course is to step aside.” In April the Prime Minister also sacked the Foreign Office chief, Sir Olly Robbins, after the bombshell revelation that Lord Mandelson was made US ambassador despite failing his security vetting. Last week ex-minister Jess Phillips, who quit the government after Labour’s local elections drubbing earlier this month, said she had “threatened to resign on a number of occasions” over Lord Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US.
She told BBC Newsnight: “I had to decide whether me, like, shouting my mouth off to make myself feel better was the right thing to do, or if I could use that hurt anger to sweat the assets on violence against women and girls, to get basically half of what is written in the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy actually written into it. Never waste a crisis is always my mantra with regards to Violence against Women and Girls Strategies, but privately, obviously I was horrified just like everybody else.”
The first tranche of documents relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment was published in March and contained details of how the Labour peer was handed a £75,000 severance payment when he was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to Washington.
A government spokesperson told The Guardian, which reported the documents will be published on Monday: “The second tranche of documents will be among the largest publications ever laid in Parliament. That reflects the transparent and thorough process we have followed, in line with established precedent for humble addresses.” Lord Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ‘Trump whisperer’ in September last year as new details emerged about his relationship with Epstein. He was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office following claims he shared sensitive information with Epstein. He denies wrongdoing.
