Documents on Peter Mandelson appointment to be released early March – minister

The first tranche of documents related to Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador is expected to be released “very shortly in early March”, MPs have been told.

However, the publication of some correspondence between Downing Street and the peer will be delayed “because of the Metropolitan Police interest”, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said.

Mr Jones’ statement to the Commons came minutes before the force announced Lord Mandelson had been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

The former Labour minister has been accused of passing on information to Epstein when he was business secretary, with two of his properties searched by police.

Sir Keir Starmer has faced considerable criticism over his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson to the position despite his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar calling for him to resign.

The Prime Minister had admitted to knowing about Lord Mandelson’s ongoing friendship with Epstein, but said the peer “lied repeatedly” about the extent of the relationship when questioned on it.

Under pressure from Labour MPs and opposition parties, the Prime Minister agreed to release all the documents relating to the appointment, with sensitive ones sent to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).

In a statement to the Commons on Monday, Mr Jones said: “The Government intends to publish documents in tranches instead of one publication at the end of the process, given that we are unable to confirm how long that process will take.

“On that basis, the Government expects to be able to publish the first tranche of documents very shortly in early March.

“I should, however, inform the House that it remains the case that a subset of this first tranche of documents is currently subject to the ongoing Metropolitan Police investigation.

“This includes correspondence between number 10 and Lord Peter Mandelson, in which a number of follow up questions were asked.

“Because of the Metropolitan Police interest in this document, we are unable to publish it in early March in the first tranche, but will release it as soon as we are able to do so in consultation with the Metropolitan Police.

“There is also a small portion of that material which engages matters of national security or international relations, and thus the role this House has envisaged for the Intelligence and Security Committee, we are working with the committee to establish processes for making this material available to them, and we’re very grateful to the committee in advance of their important contribution to reviewing these documents.”

Mr Jones later added that the first tranche will include documents currently held by the Government, besides the previously mentioned exceptions.

The subsequent tranches of information will include documents found by various departments through their searches.

He said: “Commissions have gone out across Government for those departments to search their archives and databases to bring forward any documents that relate to the terms of the humble address.

“And given the depth of the issues raised in the humble address, that of course will take some time to process.”

The Conservatives accused the Government of acting “with the urgency of a tired sloth on a bank holiday Monday” in releasing documents.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: “Careful work must not become a euphemism for managed delay.

“It is time the Government stopped treating Parliament like an inconvenient interruption to their schedule, stopped giving every impression that they have priorities working out who’s back to cover, and started providing some actual answers so that we can start to get to the bottom of this murky matter.”

Mr Jones responded that the Government was trying to manage a criminal investigation, and “I’m sure the House would not want us to inadvertently interfere with that process”.

Lord Mandelson, a political appointment rather than a career diplomat, was sacked from his Washington role in September last year over his links with Epstein, who died in 2019.