Labour’s poisonous puppet master and a £1million cover-up: The 1,500 new pages are a sea of Tipp-Ex. But they still expose malign back-biting of a peer for whom Starmer sabotaged his own career by making him US ambassador

The Mandelson Files exposed the toxic infighting at the heart of the Labor Party.

Hundreds of documents showed ministers and officials sniping at each other over the fate of Keir Starmer’s ‘beleaguered’ government.

The chaos was compounded by accusations of a cover-up, raising more questions about what the 1,500-page dossier dump failed to reveal.

The files also reveal how much Peter Mandelson, who had been suspended from government twice in that period over past scandals, still held the reins of the Labor Party thanks to his close friendship with the Prime Minister’s then chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.

Shedding light on what goes on behind the scenes, current Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden says Labor MPs are constantly asking ‘Who can we tax to provide benefits for others?’ There was also a grave confession in which he complained that they asked the question.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘Pat McFadden has said things privately that he and the Prime Minister have denied publicly. They are no longer the Labor Party, they are the Welfare Party.’

In other statements, Sir Keir, Rachel Reeves, Ed Miliband and Angela Rayner all face criticism from senior Labor colleagues.

But the dossier, compiled at a cost to taxpayers of more than £1 million, sheds little light on the Prime Minister’s disastrous decision to appoint Mandelson as ambassador to the US.

In the files, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden (pictured with Mandelson) said Labor MPs were constantly asking ‘Who can we tax to provide benefits for others?’ It was seen that he complained that they asked the question.

They also revealed how much Mandelson still holds the reins of the Labor Party thanks to his close friendship with the Prime Minister’s then chief of staff Morgan McSweeney (Photo taken in September 2025)

Opposition MPs last night accused ministers of covering up the incident. Alex Burghart, a leading figure in the Conservative Party, said it was a “beggar of faith” that there was “no documentary trace” of the Prime Minister’s decision.

Sir Keir appointed Mandelson despite being warned that he maintained a “particularly close” friendship with Jeffrey Epstein even after the notorious pedophile was jailed for child sex crimes.

But the files do not contain minutes of the meeting in December 2024 at which Sir Keir chose to appoint Mandelson, or any record of his thoughts.

The row risks reigniting the debate that came close to triggering the Prime Minister’s downfall earlier this year.

Leadership hopeful Andy Burnham seized the opportunity and warned that the statements would ‘further undermine people’s confidence in our political system’.

In another damaging day for Labour, it was revealed:

• She gossiped at length about what others in the government thought of Sir Keir, including Mr McSweeney, who was said to be seeing a ‘cycle’. [of] moving forward/stuck thanks to the Prime Minister’s many U-turns;

• Mandelson was offered a briefing with the head of MI6 before the security review was completed;

• The former New Labor spin doctor adjusted his start date in Washington to allow him to give a potentially lucrative speech in China;

• His disgraced colleague refused to hand over his phone to officials compiling the dossier for parliament;

• Cabinet Minister Darren Jones struggled to fend off accusations of a cover-up after admitting his own messages to Mandelson had been lost;

• Deputy Prime Minister Mr Lammy distanced himself further from the appointment, saying he had suggested the job should be given to former Tory Chancellor George Osborne.

The announcement follows an extraordinary vote in parliament in February to release all documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment and tenure, including messages shared with ministers and officials.

Mr Jones said the documents were the biggest ever ‘transparent’ release by the government.

Pressure continued to mount on Sir Keir Starmer over the appointment of Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US (the pair are pictured together in 2025)

But the documents were riddled with redactions, making it impossible to track vital evidence. And there was only one page of boring conversations between Mandelson and the Prime Minister who appointed him.

Mr Burghart told MPs: ‘There are acres of white space, a constellation of stars… There is a lot of redaction.

‘Although we have a lot of documents, it is clear that most of them are missing. Some were retained, some were lost and it is clear that some were probably destroyed.’

But the files revealed the fear and hatred at the heart of the Labor government and Mandelson’s extraordinary influence.

During an interview, the disgraced Labor member rails against the Government’s ‘s**t’ communications and describes No 10 as ‘poor and beleaguered’ and in need of ‘total regeneration’.

He says the public are ‘crying out for leadership’ and ministers need (dare I say it) to act in a more Trump-style risk-taking and bold manner’, and reveals that Mr McSweeney ‘has no faith in Keir’s ability to turn No 10’.

Mandelson also advised Mr McSweeney on the appointment of an economic adviser to Sir Keir amid tensions with Rachel Reeves. He warned that Gordon Brown was ‘getting in on the Prime Minister’s side’ and using Ms Rayner to weaken him.