Labour MP admits Mandelson files are ’embarrassing and awkward’ for Starmer – as PM is

Thank you very much for sticking with us tonight as Downing Street was once again plunged into chaos over the Peter Mandelson scandal.

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Sir Keir Starmer has this evening been pictured driving past Lord Peter Mandelson’s home – after Downing Street confirmed the PM would not comment on the release of more than 1,500 files relating to the disgraced peer.

The Labour leader was snapped in the back of an Audi outside Mandelson’s home near Regent’s Park, north London.

The sighting comes hours after WhatsApp messages released in the Mandelson files displayed the former ambassador’s dwindling support for Sir Keir.

Mandelson admitted things ‘don’t look good’ for the PM last summer, while also claiming that Starmer and his Cabinet ‘lack verve’.

The PM had kept a noticeably low profile in the wake of the revelations – but has now been seen for the first time as pressure mounts over his future.

This afternoon’s release of the second tranche of documents relating to the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador revealed further infighting and chaos in Sir Keir Starmer’s government.

Here are just a few of the most shocking revelations uncovered in the files.

• Mandelson was told it was only necessary to provide information on his current friendships with foreign nationals during the vetting process prior to his appointment. At that point, Jeffrey Epstein had been dead for five years.
• The ex-Labour peer ‘declined to comply’ to a request asking him to hand over WhatsApp messages and other personal information to the government.
• Mandelson’s faith in Starmer was dwindling, and the 72-year-old admitted things ‘don’t look good’ for the PM after a revolt last summer that blocked welfare reforms.
• The disgraced politician complained to Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden that Sir Keir and the Cabinet as a whole ‘lacked verve’.
• Wes Streeting, who quit the Labour government just weeks ago, is described by Mandelson as sending a ‘wild long hysterical message’ criticising Israel.
• Mandelson told Justice Secretary David Lammy the government would ‘never regret’ his appointment as US ambassador in a hand-written note.
• One reported message from Sir Keir claiming that Mandelson would be a ‘brilliant’ envoy appears to be missing from the files.
• Starmer has announced he will not speak about the files today.

A Jeffrey Epstein survivor has this evening responded to the latest tranche of documents relating to Peter Mandelson – and has called for a public inquiry.

In a statement sent to Sky News, Lisa Phillips revealed that she has ‘repeatedly reached out’ to Sir Keir Starmer over the possibility of a meeting but to no avail.

Ms Phillips added that ‘survivors have never been given the opportunity to be heard’ as she questioned why her requests have gone ‘unanswered’.

She wrote: ‘If the Prime Minister is committed to listening to survivors, why have those of us who have spent years calling for answers, accountability and a public inquiry still not been heard?

‘Stop ignoring me, Prime Minister. Meet with me. Listen to Epstein and Maxwell survivors.’

Lord Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US in September 2025 over his links to paedophile financier Epstein.

John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, has called on Patrick McFadden to resign in the wake of the second tranche of Mandelson files.

The politician, who was shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, told Times Radio: ‘It looks as though Pat McFadden was Peter Mandelson’s person in cabinet.

‘He was almost the representative of Peter Mandelson within government itself, feeding information to him, exchanging derogatory remarks about Keir himself and Keir’s style of government.

‘If I was Keir, I’d be asking Pat to consider his position. I would expect Pat himself to think himself about whether he should continue in his role because he’s clearly not been loyal, in fact quite disloyal, to the very person who’s appointed him.’

It comes after WhatsApp messages between McFadden and Mandelson showed the Secretary for Work and Pensions criticising Starmer and the Labour government.

Secretary for Work and Pensions Patrick McFadden appears to have addressed his criticism of Labour in the Mandelson files.

Documents revealed that Mr McFadden sent a message to Mandelson in which he claimed that Labour MPs only ask ‘who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others’.

The minister also admitted that Sir Keir Starmer’s authority had been ‘destroyed’ by a revolt last summer that blocked welfare reforms.

‘Every meeting I have is “who we can tax in order to pay benefits to others”,’ he told Mandelson. ‘They’re asking the wrong questions’.

In a post on X this evening, however, McFadden wrote: ‘As I often say in interviews and in the department, “we have to change the question the system asks from “what benefits are you entitled to” to “how do we help you change your life”.’

A second Labour figure has been unable to share their messages with Lord Mandelson to parliament due to their phone being stolen.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, a minister in the Cabinet Office, says his phone was stolen on October 15, 2025.

It comes after Morgan McSweeney, who played a pivotal role in Mandelson’s appointment, was unable to share his correspondence with the disgraced peer after his device was snatched in London.

It is understood that Mr Thomas-Symonds reported the crime to police within hours, and could only recall sharing ‘general pleasantries’ with Mandelson.

The minister was however also lobbied by the ex-ambassador during his failed bid to become chancellor of the University of Oxford.

An ally of Mr Thomas-Symonds’ said: ‘Nick complied fully with the humble address, sharing all details of the messages he could recall, which were all before Mandelson taking up post.

‘It is right that transparency is the only remedy.’

Labour MP for Kensington and Bayswater Joe Powell has admitted that the second tranche of documents relating Lord Mandelson come as an embarrassment for the government.

Mr Powell nevertheless also noted that the files provide the transparency that many were calling for.

He continued: ‘I don’t think this system of using WhatsApp for all these conversations is particularly useful for transparency and accountability.’

Lord Mandelson advised Labour ministers to behave in a more ‘Trumpian risk-taking and daredevil’ way following the party’s loss to Reform in the Runcorn by-election.

In a message sent to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Patrick McFadden, he also claimed problems ‘stem from the top and Keir lacks verve’.

The 72-year-old wrote:

It does start right from the top, I am afraid, but you must all contribute more to it by breaking out of the Whitehall system and mould and appearing less like business as usual conventional ministers and, dare I say it, behaving in a more Trumpian risk taking and dare devil way.

Today’s document dump revealed details of a secret meeting between Wes Streeting, Lord Mandelson and key figures in Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

The ex-health secretary and US ambassador attended a dinner along with Lachlan Murdoch, the mogul’s son, and a number of other executives before 2024’s general election.

Mandelson told Streeting in a text message afterwards that ‘Lachlan really enjoyed the dinner’ and ‘they all thought everyone in great form’.

Streeting replied: ‘The highlight of the evening was you pulling out The Times app and ribbing Tony (Gallagher, editor of The Times).’

The sacked peer then joked: ‘These people have to be kept on their toes,’ to which Streeting gushed: ‘It was masterfully done.’

Questions have since been raised about why Streeting failed to include the exchange in the WhatsApp messages he published back in February.

Allies of the Labour figure have however explained this by noting that Streeting published communications starting from six months before Mandelson started his role as ambassador in February 2025.

Murdoch owns The Times and The Sun newspapers in Britain, as well as a host of titles in the US and Australia.

A host of ministers sent congratulations to Lord Mandelson after his appointment as US ambassador just before Christmas 2024 – including then environment secretary Steve Reed.

Mr Reed, who is now Secretary of State for Housing, wrote: ‘Congratulations Peter – wonderful news if you’re to be the US ambassador. Excellent appointment.’

Mandelson would be sacked just nine months later – with Reed subsequently blasting the peer for ‘betraying the country’ in failing to disclose his links to Epstein.

‘I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach when I found out what Mandelson had been up to,’ he told Sky News.