Overview
- New reporting shows former No. 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney used a personal email and WhatsApp to communicate with Lord Mandelson before his appointment, with those messages not included in the government’s initial disclosures.
- The released files confirm officials warned of Mandelson’s post‑2008 links to Jeffrey Epstein and note national security adviser Jonathan Powell called the appointment process “weirdly rushed,” with the Foreign Office’s Sir Philip Barton also expressing reservations.
- There is no written record of Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Mandelson, and The Times reports the prime minister did not interview him personally, instead relying on aides to pose three questions and deem the responses satisfactory.
- The documents show Mandelson sought more than £500,000 after his dismissal but received a £75,000 payout, and a No 10 record states he was sacked after Bloomberg emails revealed a deeper relationship with Epstein; Starmer has apologized as No 10 rejects claims of a cover‑up.
- The first 147‑page tranche features numerous blanks and routine material, with key emails and WhatsApps withheld pending reviews by the Metropolitan Police and Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, as the misconduct investigation into Mandelson continues.