Mandelson Files Raise Five Questions, Including 'Why Did No One Back Up Their Phone?'

A second batch of papers relating to Lord Mandelson's time as UK ambassador to the US was published on Monday, after MPs voted to release the documents in February. The peer was sacked from the job last year by Sir Keir Starmer following revelations in the United States about the extent of his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Totalling more than 1,500 pages, the documents include over 160 pages of messages and WhatsApps between Lord Mandelson and government ministers and officials. But the disclosure did not include information from the peer's personal phone, after he declined a request to hand it over. We can see six messages between Lord Mandelson and Sir Keir in two brief exchanges, where they discuss campaigning in Bury and praise former Conservative PM John Major. On Tuesday, Downing Street confirmed the prime minister uses disappearing messages on his phone, and refused to say whether Sir Keir deleted messages that could have appeared in the documents. The PM's spokesman said the function is permitted as long as it doesn't impact 'record-keeping or transparency'.

We have not seen messages from Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir's former chief of staff, who resigned following Lord Mandelson's sacking. McSweeney reported his government phone stolen last year, and police say the device has not been recovered. He has provided some messages to Lord Mandelson to the Cabinet Office, possibly from his personal phone. Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds also says his personal phone was stolen last year, and would have contained messages with the peer. Some messages published by the government have been redacted for national security or diplomatic reasons.

The government has said Lord Mandelson was granted security clearance by the Foreign Office against the recommendation of UK Security Vetting (UKSV). Downing Street says neither the PM nor any minister knew this at the time. The second batch did not contain a copy of Mandelson's vetting form, nor a nine-page document summarising his vetting. A blank declaration of interests form was published in March, but the completed version - including details on conflicts of interest - does not appear.

Sir Keir has accused Lord Mandelson of not fully disclosing his relationship with Epstein before the appointment. During due diligence, McSweeney asked the peer three follow-up questions about his relationship with the financier, but his answers have not been disclosed. According to McSweeney, these are among materials held back at the request of the Metropolitan Police, who are investigating the peer over allegations of misconduct in public office. Lord Mandelson has denied wrongdoing, and the BBC understands his view is that he answered the questions accurately.

In messages between Lord Mandelson and former No 10 communications chief Lord Matthew Doyle, the peer raised concerns about the UK's deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The agreement would have ceded sovereignty to Mauritius and paid an average of £101m per year to lease back a joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. The deal, signed last year, has been shelved after the US failed to confirm approval. Back on 18 January 2025, two days before Trump's inauguration, Mandelson told Doyle: 'I am getting very worried about Chagos.' The next five messages are redacted.