Cabinet ministers have turned on each other over the release of messages relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US, The i Paper can reveal.
The second tranche of the so-called Mandelson files contains hundreds of private Whatsapp messages and email exchanges between the peer and current and former Cabinet ministers, senior civil servants and advisors.
However, there were strikingly few exchanges published between Mandelson and a number of senior Cabinet figures, including Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, which has breeded resentment in the Prime Minister’s top team.
The disparity has angered some in Cabinet who fear they have been exposed to far greater scrutiny than some other colleagues.
A particular focus has been the small volume of messages published between Mandelson and both Reeves and Peter Kyle, the then technology secretary, during talks over the trade deal with the US.
One Cabinet source said: “They either didn’t declare their personal messages or they were negligent. The idea there were no messages about this is for the birds.”
Another senior party insider said: “This is perfect ammunition for the Tories, who are bound to start pointing to this and saying the cover-up is worse than the crime. It certainly wasn’t just Pat [McFadden] and Wes [Streeting] who were sending messages to Mandelson.”
The gaps come amid confirmation that several ministers, including Starmer and Reeves, have used the disappearing-message function on WhatsApp.
The PM’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister does use disappearing messages. As you’ll be aware some ministers do use that function in line with the Government’s advice on non-corporate communications channels.”
He insisted the PM had “fully complied with the Humble Address” and that a review of non-corporate communication channels was under way.
The i Paper understands that Reeves has also used the function.
Government guidance states: “‘Disappearing message’ functions have a role in limiting the build-up of messages on devices. You must ensure that any such use does not impact on your recordkeeping or transparency responsibilities.”
Neither No 10 nor the Treasury would say whether the PM or Chancellor hold separate private devices not covered by the release.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said it was “obvious” that messages involving “senior people” were missing. “Either this stuff is being deliberately withheld, or it’s been deleted,” he told Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday morning.
The other glaring omission is correspondence between Morgan McSweeney, then the PM’s chief of staff, and the peer – including messages he says he sent in response to unsolicited advice from Mandelson on the day of the 5 September Cabinet reshuffle.
McSweeney cited those messages while rejecting claims that Mandelson had been present in Downing Street that day and had played an active role in the shake-up of ministerial jobs – which he has repeatedly denied.
Cabinet ministers left to questions about the messages following a meeting at Downing Street today (Photo: James Manning/PA)McSweeney had his phone snatched by thieves in October last year. Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds also had his phone stolen, which he reported to police on 15 October – just five days before McSweeney’s device was stolen.
The publication of the messages has laid bare a deep rift within Labour over tax and welfare.
Among the most damaging exchanges, Pat McFadden – now Work and Pensions Secretary – complains to Mandelson that every meeting he had with Labour backbenchers came down to “who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others”.
In another, Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, confided his fears for his east London seat, texting: “I fear we’re in big trouble here – and I am toast at the next election.”
The Mandelson files were forced into the open earlier this year after the Conservatives won a Commons motion compelling the Government to hand over all papers relating to the peer’s appointment as US ambassador, starting from six months before he took up the role, including private electronic communications.
Mandelson was made ambassador in December 2024 but sacked last September over the depth of his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He has since resigned from Labour and remains under police investigation for alleged misconduct in public office.
Monday’s second tranche was vastly larger than the roughly 150-page first release in March, running to hundreds of private WhatsApp messages and email exchanges. Briefing MPs on Monday, Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, described it as one of the largest government publications ever laid before the Commons, with the disclosure process having cost the Cabinet Office more than £1m.
Some material was redacted on national security grounds, while other documents have been handed to the Metropolitan Police.
Mandelson declined a request to hand over his personal phone, leaving the Government with no way to compel the release of messages held on his private devices.
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