Newly released documents from Peter Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to Washington have exposed deep internal divisions within the Labour government, with the former minister himself delivering scathing assessments of senior colleagues. The files, published on Monday, were originally demanded by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to investigate what ministers knew about Mandelson's links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. However, the disclosures have instead highlighted widespread doubts about Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership.
In a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy on 18 November 2024, Mandelson promised: “If you were minded to appoint me, I would make sure you never regret it.” Yet subsequent events have led senior figures, including Lammy and Starmer, to view the appointment with regret. The documents show Mandelson describing Starmer as lacking “verve” and his government as “beleaguered and bereft”. He also quoted Starmer's then chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, as saying the prime minister's performance followed a cycle of “advance/buckle/advance/buckle”.
Mandelson's criticisms extended to other cabinet members. He called Health Secretary Wes Streeting “hysterical” and “experiencing an early mid-life crisis” over Gaza, and described Energy Secretary Ed Miliband's criticism of former Prime Minister Tony Blair as “personal and stupid”. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, he said, was “on a growth mission but without an argument about where the growth will come from or how”.
Other officials also expressed frustration. Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden complained that Labour MPs were focused on “who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others?” and backed Blair's criticism of the government's net zero strategy. Pensions Minister Torsten Bell noted that “everyone seems to think it's someone else's job to get the policy right”. The documents also revealed lengthy deliberations over trivial matters, such as procuring a ministerial-style red box as a gift for US President Donald Trump, which Mandelson likened to the BBC satire The Thick of It.
Despite the focus on security vetting, the files offered limited information about Mandelson's links to Epstein or other foreign contacts. At one point, Mandelson asked whether he needed to declare “literally every foreign national I have ever met”. A junior official advised him to submit names even if they were not close contacts, acknowledging the process was “quite artificial”. The Guardian reported that no agreement was reached for Mandelson to mitigate security concerns, and vetting officials initially recommended he be denied clearance.
