Keir Starmer is convening an awkward meeting of his Cabinet today after the Mandelson files revealed the scale of Labour plotting and backstabbing. The Prime Minister will gather ministers in Downing Street amid the fallout from 1,500 pages of evidence about the New Labour architect's disastrous appointment as US ambassador.
Sir Keir has yet to make any comment about the huge dump of messages exchanged between ministers, aides and Mandelson. The premier was at a funeral yesterday when the Government chose to release the files, which were demanded by Parliament following a Labour revolt.
The papers gave a stark glimpse into tensions at the heart of Government, with Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden at one point complaining that his own MPs just want him to find people to tax so they can hand out more benefits. He also candidly admitted that Sir Keir's authority was 'destroyed' by a revolt last summer that blocked welfare reforms.
Mandelson and ministers are exposed as having discussed how things 'don't look good' for Sir Keir. Gordon Brown is said to 'have it in for' the premier and be favouring Angela Rayner, while No10 staff are branded 'sub-optimal'.
Wes Streeting, until recently the health secretary and now a leadership hopeful, is described by Mandelson as sending a 'wild long hysterical message' criticising Israel. Amid a row over the Government recognising Palestine as a state, the ambassador jibed that Mr Streeting was having an 'early mid life crisis' and lacked 'maturity'.
The Labour carnage was foreshadowed by a handwritten note from Mandelson to then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the end of 2024, saying Sir Keir would 'never regret' appointing him as US ambassador. It is clear the PM was not alone in wanting Mandelson for the job, as a slew of fawning ministers rushed to congratulate him personally.
Despite the scale of the document dump, some key papers are still being withheld at the request of Scotland Yard, which is investigating the former peer over alleged misconduct in public office. There have been a swathe of redactions, carried out at a cost of £1 million. At least one previously reported message from Sir Keir to Mandelson saying he would be a 'brilliant' envoy seems to be missing.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has joined Secretary of State to the PM Darren Jones in admitting that his messages with Mandelson could not be recovered. Like former No10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, Mr Thomas-Symonds' phone is believed to have been stolen last year.
Mr Thomas-Symonds was dispatched to broadcast studios this morning to field questions on the extraordinary revelations in the papers. He told Times Radio that Mr McFadden is a 'diligent, committed minister' and his views on social security and welfare were 'very well known and consistent'. Mr Thomas-Symonds said: 'Pat's view has always been that it is not about benefits, that is not where the debate should be. The debate should be about opportunity, and indeed that is what he has been working on.'
