Top government figures to hand over private messages with Mandelson
31 minutes agoJake LaphamandJack Fenwick,Political correspondent
AFP via Getty ImagesSenior figures in Sir Keir Starmer’s government are preparing to hand over tranches of their electronic communications with Lord Mandelson ahead of the release of evidence about his appointment as US ambassador.
The deepening scandal prompted an apology on Wednesday from Sir Keir to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for believing Lord Mandelson’s “lies” and appointing him when the peer’s friendship with the paedophile was already public knowledge.
Despite the prime minister’s attempt to defuse the row, some of his own MPs are calling on him to stand down.
It comes as No 10’s former communications director warned the disclosure of private messages could drag more public figures into the scandal.
“I don’t think anyone can understate the gravity of the situation,” James Lyons told BBC Newsnight.
He said Wednesday’s approval of the release of documents about Lord Mandelson’s appointment meant “we could just be in the foothills here”.
“We’ve seen with the Covid inquiry how a huge amount of stuff can be thrown up through that.
“I think this is at least the biggest scandal since the expenses scandal of 2009.”
The BBC understands Lord Mandelson’s view is that he answered questions about his relationship with Epstein in the vetting process accurately.
Sir Keir has promised to release files, which he says will prove Lord Mandelson lied about the extent of his friendship with Epstein when he was being vetted for the ambassador role.
Any documents the government deems potentially unfit for the public eye will go to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee for further scrutiny.
That committee has said it expects the government to provide all documents within scope of that process – which would include personal exchanges between government figures and Lord Mandelson stretching back to Labour’s election victory.
The committee added it expects the documents will be laid before parliament “very shortly”.
If the documents published cause any further embarrassment for the government over what was known about Lord Mandelson and Epstein’s relationship, it would likely lead to yet another difficult moment for the prime minister.
On Wednesday Sir Keir began a planned speech on funding to improve local communities by addressing the growing anger over how he had dealt with the issue.
While he acknowledged it had been publicly known for some time that Lord Mandelson knew Epstein, he said: “None of us knew the depths and the darkness of that relationship.”
Directly addressing Epstein’s victims, he said: “I am sorry, sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him and sorry that even now you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the PM’s position was “untenable”, while the Liberal Democrats called for a confidence vote to see if Labour MPs supported him.
The underlying anger among Labour MPs towards Sir Keir is still palpable.
While the handful of backbenchers who have spoken out publicly are frequent critics of the PM, many more have raised concerns privately.
“He’s toast,” one Labour MP told the BBC. “It’s got an inevitability but not an immediacy about it,” another said. “He’s like a wounded wildebeest: fatally wounded but determined to show how strong he is knowing full well the end is nigh.”
Others are more supportive, one writing: “I still think most Labour MP anger is directed at Mandelson himself rather than at Keir.”
Jonathan Hinder, the MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, said the PM’s decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as US ambassador was a “catastrophic error of political and moral judgement”.
Sir Keir’s former political director Luke Sullivan said he thought the PM was “fighting for his premiership”.
He told the BBC’s Newscast: “I don’t think you can understate how serious the situation and the peril is that the prime minister finds himself in.”
Former deputy Labour leader Baroness Harriet Harman said Sir Keir’s defence that Lord Mandelson lied to him makes him look “weak and naive and gullible”.
“I don’t think it’s inevitable that it will bring him down, but it will bring him down unless he takes the action that it’s really necessary for him to take,” she told Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast.
At the time Lord Mandelson was appointed as US ambassador in December 2024, it was public knowledge that he had maintained a friendship with Epstein after his conviction for soliciting sex from a minor.
In 2023, the Financial Times reported emails suggesting he stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2009, while the financier was in jail.
The prime minister said Lord Mandelson was asked directly about the nature of his relationship with Epstein before he was appointed as ambassador, whether he had stayed at his home after his conviction and whether he had accepted gifts and hospitality from him.
“The information now available makes clear that the answers he gave were lies,” he said.
“He portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew.
“And when that became clear and it was not true, I sacked him.”
Lord Mandelson was sacked last September, following the emergence of new emails revealing supportive messages he sent to Epstein after he pleaded guilty to sex offences.
In recent days, more documents released by the US Department of Justice have laid bare the extent of their relationship.
They include emails suggesting Epstein made payments worth thousands of pounds to Lord Mandelson and his partner.
Police are investigating allegations of misconduct in public office, after other emails in the files suggested Lord Mandelson forwarded on market-sensitive information to Epstein when he was business secretary during the financial crisis in 2009.
Lord Mandelson has not responded to requests for comment, but the BBC understands his position is that he has not acted in any way criminally and that he was not motivated by financial gain.
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