No10 told to hand over private WhatsApp messages

Downing Street officials have been ordered to hand over private messages on WhatsApp groups involving Peter Mandelson, as the investigation widens into his disastrous appointment as British ambassador to Washington.

Sir Keir Starmer has faced mounting pressure over allegations of a cover-up during the first release of the Mandelson files earlier this month. Personal email correspondence between Mandelson and former No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who played a key role in the appointment, were not made public.

Cat Little, the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, has written to officials involved in the decision to appoint Mandelson asking them to hand over any 'group chat' exchanges on 'private devices'.

However on Saturday night critics said the delay meant the most pertinent messages will have deleted automatically by now. It is against the law to 'conceal information with the intention of preventing its disclosure' – but this does not apply to chats which automatically clear after a set period of time. Amid the ongoing police investigation, the Prime Minister has faced questions about why he did not interview Mandelson to assess the extent of his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Instead he delegated the task to Mr McSweeney and Matthew Doyle – another Mandelson ally and director of communications at the time. So far only 31 documents and messages relating to Mandelson's appointment and his dismissal nine months later have been made public – all from official email addresses and none involving Mr McSweeney.

And it has been reported Mr McSweeney used his personal email address during discussions with Mandelson before his appointment. Sir Keir agreed to release documents relating to the appointment only under intense pressure from MPs, with the process being overseen by the cross-party intelligence and security committee.

Tory front-bencher Alex Burghart has now written to sleaze watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus demanding an investigation into 'missing' correspondence.

Mandelson was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office as part of a Met Police probe into whether he passed government information to Epstein. He has denied any wrongdoing.

In 2024 the Prime Minister received an official report showing Mandelson's relationship with Epstein carried on after his conviction. Sir Keir then tasked Mr McSweeney with asking Mandelson just three questions. Lord Doyle then looked at the responses and declared he was 'satisfied'.

There is no written record of Starmer's decision to appoint Mandelson, which was made in an un-minuted meeting.

Alex Burghart, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: 'Ministers sat on their hands while messages and emails were allowed to auto-delete. The Government continues frustrating Parliament's will by letting important evidence vanish. This looks like a deliberate cover-up of No 10's involvement in the Mandelson-Epstein scandal.'

Downing Street has rejected claims of a cover-up, but said that there are 'lessons to be learnt on the wider appointment process'.