Potentially explosive messages between Peter Mandelson and government ministers have been reviewed and are ready for release, but are unlikely to be published before next week’s local elections — meaning Sir Keir Starmer could face a fresh crisis over the scandal the moment Parliament returns.
Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee confirmed last night it had completed its review of a large tranche of documents the Government was ordered to release in February. However, ministers are to be given the opportunity to contest the level of redactions applied on national security grounds, and with Parliament proroguing today ahead of the King’s Speech on 13 May, there is now almost no prospect of the material becoming public before the 7 May polls.
ISC chairman Lord Beamish was emphatic that the delay was not of the committee’s making. “Any delay in Government responding to the Humble Address is in no way due to the committee’s part in the process,” he said, adding that the committee had “made exceptional efforts to ensure that it is not holding up the publication of documents.” He confirmed that some documents had not yet been provided at all, as they remain subject to the Metropolitan Police’s ongoing investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office against Lord Mandelson, who denies any wrongdoing.
The timing carries significant political weight. Labour is widely expected to suffer heavy losses on 7 May, and the prospect of Starmer returning to Parliament to face the new wave of Mandelson revelations — potentially with his authority already severely damaged by the election results — has heightened the sense of crisis surrounding his leadership.
That crisis is already deepening before the documents are even published. Dozens of MPs defied the Prime Minister’s explicit threats last night to back a standards probe into the Mandelson scandal, with 14 voting in favour of a privileges committee inquiry into whether Starmer misled Parliament. Up to 50 more are believed to have broken a three-line whip by abstaining or otherwise failing to support the Government’s position — a level of defiance that would normally trigger disciplinary action. The Prime Minister must now decide whether to punish those MPs, a move that could further inflame tensions within the parliamentary Labour Party at precisely the moment he can least afford it.
Lord Beamish confirmed that once the Government’s opportunity to contest redactions has been exhausted, there would be “no further process” and the documents must be published as directed. “The committee will continue to keep Parliament informed of its work,” he added.
The documents are expected to shed further light on communications between Mandelson and senior ministers during the period when his appointment as US ambassador was being processed — a process now known to have proceeded despite security vetting concerns and, allegedly, under pressure from Downing Street.
