DAN HODGES: I’ve long warned the Mandelson affair was descending into a cover-up. Today we finally see why…

So where are the Mandelson/McSweeney emails? As The Mail on Sunday reported today, the Metropolitan Police and Downing Street are currently engaged in a packet-dealing game over what happened to the politically explosive communications between Sir Keir Starmer’s former ambassador and his former chief of staff.

For months, I and other journalists have been warning that the Peter Mandelson scandal was reaching the brink of a cover-up. And Starmer and his allies would do everything they could to ensure the truth about the harrowing saga did not come to light.

This morning we can see why. Because the Met and No 10 now blame each other for not publishing a series of important messages regarding the Cabinet reshuffle that took place on 5 September 2025, following the resignation of Angela Rayner.

Shortly after the forced reorganization of his government, rumors began to circulate that Starmer was not alone in choosing new ministers. According to a ministry source I spoke to at the time: ‘Peter Mandelson was in Downing Street. He was managing things. ‘He was pulling the strings.’

This was angrily denied by No 10 at the time. They acknowledged that Mandelson was in the building that day, but had no role in the change.

The issue was explored again last month when Starmer’s former private secretary Morgan McSweeney appeared before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

Committee chair Emily Thornberry questioned McSweeney about the events of the day in question. He confirmed Mandelson was in the building but insisted he had not met him. He also acknowledged that his disgraced Labor colleague had texted him about the reshuffle and he had replied.

But McSweeney again insisted Mandelson had no role in any of the appointments. And most importantly, he told Thornberry that all the messages would be released when the next part of the Mandelson papers was released.

The Met and No 10 are now blaming each other for failing to publish a key set of messages regarding the Cabinet reshuffle on 5 September 2025 (LR: Angela Rayner, Shabana Mahmood, Keir Starmer, Peter Kyle, Hilary Benn, Rachel Reeves, Darren Jones and Thangam Debbonaire)

They weren’t. And the reason for this is now the subject of a row between the police and Downing Street officials. The Met insists it does not want a series of crucial messages to be suppressed. Downing Street sources informed reporters that this had happened.

My understanding is that at least two specific messages of particular importance are hidden. One of these concerns the appointment of Darren Jones, who became the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff from Mandelson to McSweeney.

There was a debate in No 10 about whether Jones’ role in government should be significantly expanded. According to a senior Cabinet minister: ‘Mandelson was directly involved in discussions with Jones about what to do. ‘He was very interested in this.’

Jones’s relationship with Mandelson came to light dramatically on Thursday after the publication of a fawning message following the dismissal of the disgraced ambassador, in which he praised her and expressed sympathy for her departure. This was despite Jones previously denying sending such a message.

The second important communication concerns Mandelson’s message to McSweeney about Trade Minister Peter Kyle.

At the time, Kyle was secretary of science and was in close communication with Mandelson on the development of numerous artificial intelligence initiatives. According to a senior Cabinet minister: ‘Mandelson and Kyle were in regular contact. But Kyle was starting to get angry. ‘He felt he could not properly advance the AI ​​agenda unless he was trade minister.’

The reason Mandelson’s communication with McSweeney regarding Jones and Kyle is significant is that, as we know, both Downing Street and McSweeney have vehemently denied that Mandelson had any influence on the change.

In the event, Jones was indeed promoted in this reshuffle, and the Chief Secretary gave his dual briefing to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Similarly, Kyle received a big promotion and moved from the science briefing to the commercial job he so desired.

According to a senior Cabinet minister: ‘Mandelson and Kyle (pictured) were in regular contact. But Kyle was starting to get angry. ‘He felt he could not properly advance the AI ​​agenda unless he was trade minister.’

There is another subtext to Mandelson’s interest in Kyle and the reassignment.

The documents released last week contain numerous references to ongoing trade talks with the United States and a number of complaints from Mandelson that details were leaked from the Commerce Department.

But according to another senior cabinet minister: ‘These leaks were actually coming from Peter Mandelson himself. He was trying to undermine Jonathan Reynolds [the previous trade secretary] because he wanted his friend Kyle to parachute into it.’

The most important question, of course, is why this fraud at Westminster was hidden from the public. The Met denies responsibility and has been tight-lipped about its investigation. However, some clues are starting to emerge.

Mandelson’s initial investigation and formal arrest followed reports that he passed government information about the market to business associates, including convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

It was also reported that documents relating to Mandelson’s official security clearance, and in particular his former and ongoing business relationships, were withheld at the Met’s request. Ace has a separate form for declaration of business interest. There are other tutorial gaps as well. The minutes of meetings held by Mandelson while he was ambassador to Washington were also not published.

And then there’s the ongoing mystery of the ‘Palantir Meeting’. In February 2025, shortly after seeing Donald Trump at the White House, Mandelson accompanied the Prime Minister to the tech giant’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

Contrary to cabinet rules, it was not included in his official program and no minutes of the meeting were kept.

Downing Street later tried to claim the meeting was not a meeting at all, but Starmer later admitted it was in the House of Commons, which was later confirmed by the Ministry of Defence.

Palantir was a major client of Mandelson’s consulting firm, Global Counsel. According to one Cabinet minister I spoke to, a week after Starmer returned they and some of their colleagues received a message from Downing Street. ‘This told us that we should sit down with Palantir representatives and see what they can do for us,’ the minister said.

Mandelson vehemently denies any wrongdoing. So is number 10. But we’ve heard these lies before, in the case of Downing Street.

We heard these when cell phones started to be stolen. When the messages started to disappear, we heard them. We heard about these when documents started disappearing electronically.

So if the police didn’t order the Mandelson/McSweeney emails to be preserved, who did so and why?

Once we find the answer to this, we will be much closer to finally getting to the truth of the Mandelson affair. The real Keir Starmer and his allies are doing everything they can to hide from the British public.