Mandelson personal phone messages requested for files release

Lord Mandelson is to be asked to hand over messages from his personal phone as part of the disclosure of documents related to his appointment as UK ambassador to the US, the BBC understands.

The Cabinet Office is preparing to publish thousands of files after he was sacked from the role, including messages between Lord Mandelson and Labour ministers and advisers - but has so far only had access to the peer's work phone.

Government insiders insist they had always planned to ask Lord Mandelson for the additional messages and say the move is not connected to the theft of the phone of Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer's former chief-of-staff.

Officials are understood to be in possession of some messages between Mandelson and McSweeney but the government has refused to confirm whether other messages may have been lost due to the theft.

The messages on Lord Mandelson's personal phone could help to patch together exchanges that may otherwise not be available.

Opposition politicians believe they could show how often he was talking to figures within the Labour government and whether he influenced their decision-making.

Lord Mandelson was sacked as ambassador last year after revelations emerged about his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Earlier this year, MPs forced the government to disclose the files about his appointment after they voted in favour of a Parliamentary motion brought forward by the Conservatives.

It is understood Lord Mandelson will be asked to hand over all documents in scope of the motion, which would include messages with ministers and McSweeney dating back to summer 2024.

McSweeney had been a close political ally of Lord Mandelson for years and resigned as Sir Keir's chief-of-staff in February after scrutiny over his role in the Washington appointment.

An initial set of files published by the Cabinet Office earlier this month suggested that the UK's national security adviser had raised concerns about Lord Mandelson with McSweeney.

The Cabinet Office has said a second, much larger, tranche of documents related to Lord Mandelson's appointment will be published in the coming weeks.

McSweeney's work phone was stolen in October, a month after Lord Mandelson was sacked, but several months before MPs demanded the publication of relevant messages.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said "something fishy is going on" regarding the loss of McSweeney's phone and called for documents about the theft to also be disclosed.

She said "some people have even suggested it would be in McSweeney's interest to walk around London waving his phone around until it was stolen".

On Thursday the prime minister said it was "a little bit far-fetched" to believe McSweeney could have faked the theft of his phone.

His comments came after the Metropolitan Police took the unusual step of publishing the full transcript of the call McSweeney made on 20 October last year to report his work phone had been snatched from his hand by a young man riding a bike as he walked down the street.

Sir Keir has said that Lord Mandelson "lied" during the vetting process to become ambassador and Downing Street hoped the documents published would back up that claim.

It was public information during the time of Lord Mandelson's appointment that he had maintained a friendship with Epstein after the financier was first convicted for soliciting prostitution with a minor.

Documents already published by the Cabinet Office show Sir Keir was advised that Lord Mandelson's relationship with Epstein posed a "general reputational risk" ahead of his confirmation as US ambassador.

Police have asked the Cabinet Office not to publish certain documents, because of their investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office by Lord Mandelson.

One document they have blocked from publication is a vetting exchange involving three questions that McSweeney asked Lord Mandelson regarding his ties to Epstein.

It is thought these questions related to his continued contact with Epstein after his first conviction for soliciting prostitution with a minor; reports that he had stayed at Epstein's home while the financier was in prison, and his association with a charity founded by Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Lord Mandelson has not responded to requests for comment but the BBC understands his position is that he has not acted in any way criminally, he was not motivated by financial gain and he answered questions about his relationship with Epstein in the vetting process accurately.