British diplomats fear the release of emails from “gossipy” Lord Peter Mandelson about Donald Trump could harm the UK’s relations with the US.
MPs have forced the Government to release communications with the former UK ambassador to the US after police launched a criminal investigation into claims he passed sensitive information to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Parliament has given the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) the power to block the publication of emails and documents on grounds of national security – or if they pose a risk to the special relationship.
But where this line is drawn is giving diplomats a headache.
Diplomats are concerned Mandelson’s messages could include comments about Trump and the US administration which might “inadvertently damage our relationship” with Washington.
“[The new UK Ambassador to Washington] Christian Turner has managed to get [the] Chagos [deal] over the line, but store that win away, because I fear it might end up becoming painful down the line for our UK-US relations if Peter’s written inappropriate WhatsApp messages and emails,” a diplomatic source told The i Paper.
“He was gossipy, wasn’t he? And we don’t know if the ISC will sit on any bitchiness.
“The question is what was he saying about the sort of wider administration as well, not necessarily about Trump, but his analysis of where [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio was sitting in the layer cake, the role of [Vice President JD] Vance – all the sort of insight that you need to get from the ambassador.”
There is no evidence that Mandelson sent any messages that were directly insulting about Trump.
‘He was gossipy, wasn’t he?’
On Monday, the Cabinet Office will ask the Foreign Office to hand over documents which will then be sorted “into two piles,” according to a person familiar with the process.
The pile which the Government deems non-sensitive will be released to Parliament and the public relatively quickly.
The ISC, which sits behind closed doors, will then be presented with the “second pile”. This will contain sensitive documents, and the committee will need to balance being as transparent as possible with the need to protect international relations.
Ministers, officials and members of the ISC are concerned the group will struggle to deal with the sheer volume of documents which fall within the scope of the exemptions. This could run into hundreds of thousands of messages.
The Government is being required to hand over all communications with Mandelson before and after he was appointed British ambassador to the US (Photo: Carl Court/PA)While the UK embassy in Washington only sends four or five so-called official reports a week, Mandelson’s WhatsApp, Signal and emails to officials may also fall into scope, ushering the inquiry into a months-long process. Multiple Government sources predicted the ISC may not report for over six months.
The official reports, known as DipTels or “cables”, are messages sent by the US ambassador in Washington over secure networks to two computers in London – one in the Foreign Office, the other in No 10.
Diplomats, anxious to catch the eye of the Foreign Secretary or Prime Minister, use Shakespearean quotations or puns in the subject line of the messages which are then printed out and distributed to recipients: a list determined by how explosive the embassy deems the contents.
“The cables contain candid, honest assessments of stuff that impacts UK interests. Who says what behind the scenes, what’s the rational logic behind what they’re doing?” a second diplomatic source told The i Paper.
“And [the cables] provide analysis around that and how it affects our interests. It’s not: ‘this guy has got a massive belly and smells of eggs’.
UK can’t afford to damage special relationship
“This is a political exercise and it’s important that there’s transparency over aspects of the appointment, but what we can’t really afford to do is in a substantive way is inadvertently damage our relationship with our most significant defence and investment partner in the world.
“We’re not particularly concerned the ISC is going to release state secrets. The concern comes if the ISC releases something that upsets one of the administration personally,” the source said.
In 2019, following the leak of diplomatic “cables” in which he had been critical of the Trump administration, former UK ambassador to Washington Kim Darroch resigned.
“This has the potential to be Darroch on steroids,” a former diplomat said.
Your next read
square DEFENCE AnalysisThe UK is abandoning helicopters, tanks… and its ability to defend itself
square MONEYI run a salon and now charge £100 for haircuts because of rising taxes and costs
square LIFESTYLEI did a job I loved, but now have no savings – and can’t retire like my friends
square TRAVELI visited England’s ancient cathedral city – it’s a worthy alternative to Rome
“Peter is just a naturally waspish and gossipy person. And the job of the ambassador is to read the runes of what’s going on and make political assessments on behalf of the British government.
“And within the Trump White House, I can’t imagine that it’s all just a nest of singing birds,” a Labour source added.
Mandelson did not respond to The i Paper’s request for comment.
Hence then, the article about gossipy mandelson s secret emails about trump could harm uk us security was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( ‘Gossipy’ Mandelson’s secret emails about Trump could harm UK-US security )
Also on site :