Keir Starmer’s chief secretary has confirmed the Peter Mandelson files will be released today following concerns over his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Darren Jones said “the first tranche” of files relating to Mr Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador will be released on the government website this afternoon, at which he will give a statement to the House of Commons.
The Tories forced the government last month to agree to release everything connected to Mandelson’s appointment in December 2024 because of his links to Epstein. Asked what people should expect, he told Sky News: “It’s a big number of documents.
(Image: US Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)
“The government takes its responsibility to be transparent to parliament really seriously. And of course, on this issue of Peter Mandelson and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, we all have a shared interest in bringing some accountability and transparency to these these issues.
“So the first tranche will be published this afternoon. A second tranche, though, will come later because there’s been further work that we’ve had to do across government in response to the Humble Address, which is not quite ready.
“We have two other processes that take a bit of time, given the live criminal investigation with the Metropolitan Police and the role of the Intelligence and Security Committee in Parliament has some oversight of it.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Mandelson is still under investigation by the Met Police after being arrested on allegations of misconduct in public office. He strongly denies the allegations.
The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is also probing the documents and will decide whether to withhold some of the documents based on if they could damage international relations or national security.
The Cabinet Office minister said the “second tranche” of files would “probably” be released “in the weeks, but we’re trying to get through it as quickly as possible”.
(Image: DoJ)
Mr Jones denied the documents were being released after PMQs so the prime minister could avoid scrutiny over them. He said: “It’s just normal scheduling in the House of Commons that statements come after PMQs on a Wednesday.”