Peter Mandelson to be asked to hand over messages on personal phone
Peter Mandelson will be asked to forward messages from his personal phone as the government seeks to broadcast any interactions related to his appointment as US ambassador.
Communications between ministers and the former Labor Party member are to be published in a bid to shed light on Lord Mandelson’s appointment to the post in Washington, despite his known links to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
It is understood authorities will now ask the former ambassador to hand over any relevant documents from his personal phone, including messages with ministers.
Government sources said the move came as part of a fact-finding plot and insisted it was not linked to the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone.
The disappearance of the stolen device last October has raised concerns that messages between Mr McSweeney and Lord Mandelson may now be lost.
Mr McSweeney, who is said to have pushed for his former Labor colleague to be appointed as US ambassador, resigned as Sir Keir’s private secretary earlier this year over his role in the decision.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said it was “very suspicious that the phone was stolen” after it became “clear that a lot of documents would be revealed”.
But Sir Keir Starmer said accusations of a cover-up were “somewhat exaggerated” and ignored suggestions that the claim was intended to cloud public opinion.
He said: “The phone was stolen. It was reported to the police. There is a transcript of the conversation where Morgan McSweeney gives her name, date of birth, details of the phone and the police confirmed it was reported.”
“Unfortunately, thefts like this happen. It was stolen. It was reported at that time, and the police accepted and confirmed it. And that’s what happened.”
The messages between ministers and Lord Mandelson will be published as part of the second tranche of the so-called Mandelson files after MPs moved for their release in February.
The first part of documents relating to the peerage appointment, published earlier this month, showed that the prime minister gave Lord Mandelson the ambassador post despite reportedly posing a “public reputation risk” for his relationship with Epstein.
Lord Mandelson, a political appointee rather than a career diplomat, was sacked from his post in Washington over his links to Epstein in September last year after more information emerged with the publication of documents in the US.
He was arrested on February 23 on suspicion of abuse of public office, accused of passing sensitive information to Epstein during his time as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.
