Veteran journalist John Sweeney has made explosive claims that the BBC suppressed a Newsnight investigation into Peter Mandelson's alleged connections with Moscow after the former Cabinet Minister exerted pressure on the corporation. The 2017 report, which never aired, was set to examine what programme notes described as 'Lord Mandelson's lucrative relationship with a Russian conglomerate that has had its brushes with organised crime'.
Investigation into Russian Ties and Organised Crime Links
The investigation focused on Sistema, a Russian conglomerate headquartered in Moscow where Mandelson served as a non-executive director from 2012 until he severed ties in 2016. The report included a picture of Arnold Spivakovsky, who held senior positions at Sistema despite documented links to the Solntsevskaya crime gang. Sweeney questioned whether Mandelson, in his role on Sistema's audit and risk committee, should have examined a billion-pound deal that occurred before he joined the company.
Mandelson has consistently denied any wrongdoing, emphasising that the deal in question was completed before his arrival at the company. He made this clear in emails to the programme's then-editor Ian Katz at the time. The former Cabinet Minister ended his association with Sistema in 2016, well before the US government sanctioned the company in 2023 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
How the Story Was Allegedly Blocked
Sweeney told The Mail on Sunday that 'powerful forces' worked against the investigation. 'We worked for months on the story,' he revealed. 'It was cleared by an in-house lawyer and the head of BBC Legal, and given the green light at the 9am Newsnight meeting.'
'But later that day the then Head of News, James Harding, called editor Ian Katz, producer Innes Bowen and me into his office and told us that the story would not be running that day: "It needed more work done." No one ever said: "We are killing this story." But they never found time to run it. We were got at.'
Sweeney described feeling like he was 'treading on a step that wasn't there' and sensed 'powerful forces moving above our heads, blocking the story.' After leaving the BBC, he wrote a letter to Ofcom complaining about the story not being broadcast, but the regulator took no action.
Mounting Questions About Russian Connections
The claims emerge amid growing scrutiny of Mandelson's links to Vladimir Putin's regime. The Daily Mail recently revealed that Mandelson took 'ghost flights' on a Russian oligarch's private jet to a summit with Putin when he served as EU trade commissioner. The peer accepted luxury flights aboard a Gulfstream jet controlled by aluminium billionaire Oleg Deripaska, one of Putin's favourite tycoons, before the EU slashed aluminium tariffs - a move that helped Deripaska become one of the world's richest men.
Security Concerns and Intelligence Warnings
Earlier this month, The Mail on Sunday reported that MI6 was told Mandelson could pose a risk to British security because of his connections with Russian intelligence. Senior security officials reportedly believed his friend Jeffrey Epstein was running a vast 'honeytrap operation' on behalf of the KGB.
Brussels intelligence sources said EU security services warned their British counterparts in 2008 that Moscow was targeting Mandelson through his relationship with Deripaska, and had been tracking his relationship with Epstein since 2006. As a result of this tip-off, Mandelson is understood to have been interviewed by British security officials.
Political Pressure for Investigation
Calls for investigating Mandelson's behaviour at the EU have grown louder, with Downing Street and Labour MPs piling pressure on Brussels to launch an inquiry. A Downing Street source told The Mail on Sunday: 'This is a story about how one person's treachery has rapidly helped him achieve the status of Britain's most hated man. Peter Mandelson's behaviour shows a pattern - the EU must investigate at once.'
Labour MP Karl Turner added: 'The Prime Minister should be pushing for an inquiry, and fast.' The pressure is now on Sir Keir Starmer to get to the bottom of what has become known as the Mandelson affair.
The Unbroadcast Script and BBC Response
In the script for the unbroadcast Newsnight programme, Mandelson defended his position regarding the Sistema deal, stating: 'Why should I have looked at it closely? My first board and committee meetings were not until the end of August 2013. I am not telepathic and in any case it would be odd for me to raise an issue about a transaction that, as far as I know, was straightforward and occurred before I joined the board.'
A BBC spokesman responded to the allegations by stating: 'Not all investigations make it to broadcast and many are years in the making.' A BBC source added: 'Having a legal view on a story is not the same as it being ready for broadcast/publication.'
The case continues to raise serious questions about media independence, political influence, and the extent of Russian connections among British political figures during a period of increasing geopolitical tension.
