Only files requested by the Met Police are being held back, No 10 says
No 10 indicated the release of documents was everything it planned to publish on Lord Mandelson, apart from vetting files held back at the request of the Metropolitan Police.
The Met asked the Government to withhold Lord Mandelson’s UK Security Vetting (UKSV) summary to avoid jeopardising its investigation into alleged misconduct in public office by the peer.
The whole of Government effort to uncover files relating to the posting is expected to include declassified documents as well as information of a party political nature, No 10 said.
Holly Evans1 June 2026 12:22
Breaking: Second tranche of documents to be released on Monday afternoon
The second tranche of documents relating to Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the United States will be released on Monday afternoon, Downing Street has said.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “This is a task that has involved every Government department.
“The result is the largest-ever Government response to a humble address. It represents thousands of hours of work from officials across the Government to deliver an unprecedented piece of Government transparency.
“Our guiding principle throughout has been to comply as transparently and as swiftly as possible.”
He added: “For example, material of a party political nature will be included in the publication, which is contrary to usual practice and precedent, in order to demonstrate the maximum possible transparency.
“A number of documents have also been declassified to enable publication.
“In order to provide a transparency to Parliament and the public alongside the documents, we will also provide a clear explanation of the steps taken in this official-led process to gather the documents and the approach to any redactions.”
The second tranche of documents is set to be released on Monday afternoon (AP)
Holly Evans1 June 2026 12:01
Security committee said Mandelson redactions were ‘being applied too broadly’
MPs had demanded the release of documents relating to the former Labour minister’s appointment using a parliamentary motion known as a humble address.
It was agreed that sensitive material, such as information which could compromise international relations or national security, would be passed to the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).
The ISC has since suggested redactions were “being applied far too broadly”, and its chairman Lord Beamish said ministers should seek permission from Parliament to exclude information on non-security grounds.
A UKSV summary document has been shared with the ISC and redactions have been mutually agreed so it can be published, the Cabinet Office said.
Holly Evans1 June 2026 11:47
‘Normal approach’ taken to redactions, PM’s secretary said
Chief secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said the Government has taken the “normal approach” to redactions, telling MPs it would not be in the public interest to publish the names and contact details of junior officials.
Mr Jones told the Commons last week: “When the Government publishes the second tranche of documents, we will also publish a methodology confirming the process we have followed, and it will be clear from the published information the basis on which content has been redacted.
“The targeted redactions made to the material, beyond those made relevant to national security or international relations, have been made in line with clear precedent set by previous administrations in responding to humble addresses.”
Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment was announced before his security vetting was completed (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)
Holly Evans1 June 2026 11:27
Vetting concerns had been raised over Mandelson £1m loan to invest in Israeli start up
UK Security Vetting (UKSV) flagged Lord Peter Mandelson’s association with three senior overseas figures before he took the role of US ambassador, according to The Guardian.
His connections to Chinese finance minister Lan Fo’an, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, and former Israeli military intelligence general Tamir Hayman were raised by the vetting agency in a nine-page summary, a source told the newspaper.
Concerns were also raised over Lord Mandelson receiving a £1 million loan to invest in an Israeli start-up and a potentially compromising relationship with a British individual, The Guardian said.
Holly Evans1 June 2026 11:09
Starmer has nowhere left to hide as scope of Mandelson documents threatens to engulf Labour
While a very technical thing in Whitehall lore, box comments are used by ministers to jot down their thoughts or sign off on the thousands of documents that go through their red boxes.
Read the full analysis from our political editor David Maddox here:
Holly Evans1 June 2026 10:43
Timeline: How the scandal over Lord Mandelson’s appointment unfolded
Here is a timeline of the peer’s controversial appointment to the Washington posting and the ensuing fallout:
– 20 December 2024 – Sir Keir says he is “delighted” to announce Lord Mandelson, a former New Labour minister and party grandee, as his pick for the UK’s ambassador to the US.
– 8 January 2025 – Senior civil servant Sir Olly Robbins is made permanent secretary at the Foreign Office.
– 28 January 2025 – A formal decision to deny Lord Mandelson security clearance is reportedly made by UK Security Vetting (UKSV).
– 29 January 2025 – Foreign Office civil servants grant the peer developed vetting clearance despite the UKSV recommendation that this should be denied, Sir Keir told the Commons on Monday.
This enables him to see secret information in his new role.
– February 2025 – Lord Mandelson takes up the appointment and attends a White House welcome reception.
– 8 September 2025 – Paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious “birthday book”, full of personalised notes from associates when he turned 50, is released by the US House Oversight Committee.
It includes a message from Lord Mandelson referring to the child sex offender as his “best pal”, heightening scrutiny of the UK Government.
– 10 September 2025 – The Prime Minister says he has “confidence” in the peer and that “due process was followed” as questions mounted over the extent of the former Labour grandee’s links with Epstein.
Downing Street also points reporters to the “extensive vetting” of Lord Mandelson.
– 11 September 2025 – Sir Keir sacks Lord Mandelson after growing pressure to remove him from office following leaked emails which showed the peer sent supportive messages even as Epstein faced jail for sex offences.
The Foreign Office said the emails showed “the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment”.
Meanwhile, The Independent reported that MI6 had not cleared the ex-Labour grandee – claims which it put to No 10.
The paper reported that a spokesperson replied: “Vetting done by FCDO in normal way.”
Holly Evans1 June 2026 10:20
Watch: How the Mandelson vetting scandal unfolded after The Independent’s revelation
How the Mandelson vetting scandal unfolded after The Independent’s revelation was published
Holly Evans1 June 2026 09:58
Jess Phillips reveals resignation threats over Mandelson appointment
Last week, former minister Jess Phillips has said she “threatened to resign on a number of occasions” over Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US.
Lord Mandelson was sacked from the role in September last year over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Ms Phillips, who resigned as safeguarding minister earlier this month in protest over prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, said she was “hurt and upset” to learn of Lord Mandelson’s initial appointment.
She told BBC Newsnight: “I had to decide whether me, like, shouting my mouth off to make myself feel better was the right thing to do, or if I could use that hurt anger to sweat the assets on violence against women and girls, to get basically half of what is written in the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy actually written into it.
Jess Phillips said she threatened to resign over Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment (PA Archive)
“Never waste a crisis is always my mantra with regards to Violence against Women and Girls Strategies, but privately, obviously I was horrified just like everybody else.”
Ms Phillips said she “made demands” to stay in her role.
“I didn’t just consider (resigning); I threatened to resign on a number of occasions and made demands to stop me from resigning,” she said.
“It’s not really fair to say what me and Keir Starmer particularly spoke about. But usually, you speak to the people before him before you get to that point… at the point that he is talking to you, he is saying ‘OK, what do you need?’ in regard to, in my case, violence against women and girls.
“But I have to say I think I was probably one of the only people who actually did that.”
Holly Evans1 June 2026 09:31
Embarrassing messages about Starmer likely to be revealed
Text messages which contain embarrassing remarks about Sir Keir Starmer are likely to be released today as part of the second tranche of Mandelson files.
More than a thousand documents relating to his appointment as UK ambassador to the US are set to be released, and contain Whatsapp messages between the Labour peer and cabinet ministers.
According to the Financial Times, the messages are expected to include frontbenchers and Lord Mandelson trading humiliating comments about the prime minister, which could further impact Sir Keir’s wavering authority,
It has also been reported that Lord Mandelson gave unsolicited advice to ministers on policy areas outside his diplomatic brief.
Text messages between Mandelson and ministers are set to include humiliating remarks about Sir Keir Starmer (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)
Holly Evans1 June 2026 08:59
