Mandelson described Starmer’s No 10 operation as ‘beleaguered and bereft’ in published files – UK politics live
From 48m ago 14.46 BST Mandelson described No 10 operation as 'beleaguered and bereft', files reveal Here is another exchange between Pat McFadden and Peter
From 48m ago 14.46 BST Mandelson described No 10 operation as 'beleaguered and bereft', files reveal Here is another exchange between Pat McFadden and Peter Mandelson from July last year. Mandelson was criticising the No 10 operation, which he called “beleaguered and bereft”. It is on page 255 of volume 3. Mandelson/McFadden exchanges Photograph: Cabinet Office Share Updated at 14.49 BST 6m ago 15.27 BST 'Rubbish in, rubbish out' - Mandelson did not rate government's record on policy, files reveal Peter Mandelson also disparaged the quality of policy making in government in this exchange with Torsten Bell, who is now the pensions minister. It is from July last year. It is from page 133 of volume 3. View image in fullscreen Mandelson/Torsten Bell exchanges Photograph: Cabinet Office Mandelson’s point about how “it all starts with policy” is one that Tony Blair was making in his essay about Labour and the future last week. Share 18m ago 15.15 BST McFadden joked about Labour MPs always asking 'who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others', files reveal Here is an extract from another exchange between Peter Mandelson and Pat McFadden in May 2025. Mandelson said Gordon Brown had lost faith in Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. He also said that the PLP was in a “mutinous state”, and that Angela Rayner was seen as an “instrument of destabilisation”. And McFadden, who was Cabinet Office minister at the time but who is now work and pensions secretary, complained about Labour MPs always asking “who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others”? They are on page 243 of volume 3. View image in fullscreen Mandelson/McFadden exchanges Photograph: Cabinet Office Share 31m ago 15.03 BST Mandelson thought, as privy counsellor, he could see secret documents without vetting, files reveal Henry Dyer Henry Dyer is a Guardian investigations correspondent. In the days between Peter Mandelson’s announcement as the next ambassador and Christmas, officials debated whether he needed to go through the vetting process at all. The documents show that, because Mandelson was a member of the House of Lords, some officials initially believed he would not need “developed vetting” but would have to go through clearance for STRAP, a classification used for the British government’s most sensitive documents. This belief was based on an internal paper (not released in the humble address) about vetting. One civil servant joked: “It’s nice having policies written down sometimes.” As they discussed this, the head of the Foreign Office’s Americas desk, Robert Tinline, noted one person felt briefings could begin: “Mandelson thinks that as a privy councillor [sic] he can see things without waiting for vetting.” But upon reflection officials decided clearance would be necessary for the man taking up the UK’s most high-profile diplomatic posting. One email from the Foreign Office’s head of security, Ian Collard, shows him warning on 23 December that the US “are strict about clearance matters”. He said the Americans “will likely check Lord Mandelson’s clearance” with the Foreign Office’s security team before there were any sensitive discussions in Washington. Collard added: “Failure to report the correct clearance could have an awkward impact, which we would want to avoid.” Collard would go on to recommend that Mandelson be given developed vetting clearance despite the recommendation of vetting officials it be denied. Share 34m ago 14.59 BST Mandelson described Starmer's working cycle as 'advance/buckle/advance/buckle', files reveal Here is another extract from the Mandleson/McFadden exchanges on 30 July 2025. (See 2.46pm.) Mandelson said the cycle for Starmer was ‘advance/buckle/advance/buckle’.
It is on page 255 of volume 3. View image in fullscreen Mandelson/McFadden exchanges Photograph: Cabinet Office Share Updated at 15.05 BST 42m ago 14.52 BST Mandelson declined to hand over his personal phone so messages could be published, files reveal The files reveal that Peter Mandelson apparently “declined to comply” with a request to hand over his personal phone and allow the government to publish WhatsApp messages and other information related to his appointment, according the the Press Association. Share Updated at 15.05 BST 45m ago 14.48 BST Mandelson told Lammy government would 'never regret' making him ambasador, letter reveals Peter Mandelson said the government would “never regret” appointing him as Britain’s ambassador to the US, a note published alongside thousands of documents about the posting has revealed. UPDATE: Mandelson said: double quotation mark Dear David, As today (and all week) is polling day in Oxford and I am returning to London, I wanted to drop you a line, personally, about Washington. Thankfully, the media speculation has gone away and I hope this was not too irritating to you. I just wanted you to know that if you were minded to appoint me I would make sure you never regret it … For me it would be the last thing I do in public life and it would be a huge honour to serve you and the government in this role. So if you are up for it, so am I. View image in fullscreen Note from Mandelson to Lammy Photograph: Cabinet Office Share Updated at 15.19 BST 48m ago 14.46 BST Mandelson described No 10 operation as 'beleaguered and bereft', files reveal Here is another exchange between Pat McFadden and Peter Mandelson from July last year. Mandelson was criticising the No 10 operation, which he called “beleaguered and bereft”. It is on page 255 of volume 3. View image in fullscreen Mandelson/McFadden exchanges Photograph: Cabinet Office Share Updated at 14.49 BST 54m ago 14.39 BST Mandelson told McFadden 'Keir lacks verve as does the cabinet as a whole', files reveal Here is an exchange where Pat McFadden, who at the time was Cabinet Office minister, was asking Peter Mandelson for advice on government messaging after the 2025 local elections. At one point Mandelson says “Keir [Starmer] lacks verve, as does the cabinet as a whole.” These start on page 239 in volume 3. View image in fullscreen McFadden/Mandelson exchanges Photograph: Cabinet Office Share Updated at 14.58 BST 1h ago 14.28 BST Mandelson urged Starmer to meet John Major, files reveal Here is an exchange of messages between Peter Mandelson and Keir Starmer before and after the 2024 election. Mandelson is urging Starmer to meet John Major. It is on page 283 in volume 3. View image in fullscreen Starmer/Mandelson exchanges - June 2024 Photograph: Cabinet Office Share Updated at 14.52 BST 1h ago 14.20 BST It is going to take a while for the most interesting material to appear. A word search for Keir Starmer in volume one brings up an email from Peter Mandelson to Lord Vallance, the science minister, written in July 2024 says: double quotation mark Labour has, let’s say, two terms to succeed. So far Keir’s team has not prioritised policy (not surprising given how much else had to be re-built after Corbyn). And the No 10 policy team is not large or experienced. Pat at the Cabinet Office will have the right instincts but I am an afficionado of the Cabinet Office (I started there as Minister without Portfolio and ended there as First Secretary of State) and it is a light touch co-ordinator not a power house.
It is on page 167 of the file If you can find interesting documents, do please flag them up BTL. Share 1h ago 14.12 BST Government publishes Mandelson files The Cabinet Office has published the Mandelson files. They are in three volumes. Share 2h ago 13.56 BST Robert Kenyon, the Reform UK candidate in Makerfield, posted this on social media about the new logo unveiled by Andy Burnham. (See 12.22pm.) double quotation mark Andy wants to change Labour. I want to change Makerfield. That’s the difference. That prompted this reply from the Labour MP Luke Charters. double quotation mark Sounds like you certainly wouldn’t change Reform, with your misogynistic and pro-Kremlin views. That’s the difference. For more on the Makerfield byelection, it is worth reading this thread from the More in Common pollster Luke Tryl about what he has picked up from focus groups in the constituency. Here is one of his main points. double quotation mark 5. There is going to be a lot of nose holding. Versions of “I don’t like Labour but I don’t want Reform” “If it weren’t Burnham i’d never vote Labour” “I don’t like Farage but we’ve got to get Labour out” “I’d vote Restore but they can’t win” Voting ‘against’ is now a major feature of our politics. And this is what he says specifically about Kenyon. double quotation mark 8. Kenyon’s past comments split people, particuarly women, some say everyone says stupid things, others question if they’re real, but a sizeable group are put off by them - and in particular the failure of Kenyon to make a proper apology. double quotation mark Many said if he’d apologised properly it would matter less. Substantively the comment about abortion probably seems like it might matter more than the sexist/misogynist comments, and there a degree of ‘mind your own business’ Share 2h ago 13.30 BST In his Times story about the Peter Mandelson files, Matt Dathan says the documents will show that Mandelson “contacted some of Labour’s new intake of male MPs to meet up for dinner”. Dathan says Mandelson contacted ministers he knew to get phone numbers for MPs he did not know. Dathan also quotes a minister who has seen some of the messages about to be published as saying: double quotation mark They’re going to upset a lot of people, particularly Labour members. The content is a lot of sycophancy and fawning all over Mandelson. It’s going to be very uncomfortable about how he talks about some MPs, how he would love to speak with them and have dinner with them. Share 2h ago 13.24 BST In an interview with GB News this morning, James Murray, the new health secretary, said he was not worried about his own messages to Peter Mandelson being disclosed. He said: double quotation mark I’m not concerned. There’s a couple of messages when he was standing for the … chancellor of Oxford position, but that was. Mandelson came second from last in the election to be chancellor of Oxford. (William Hague won.) But at one point he did explore whether he would be able to combine doing the job with being ambassador to the US. Share 2h ago 13.15 BST While the polling of the views of trade union members published today (see 10.53am) would appear to support claims that Labour should be moving closer to the Reform UK position on some issues, another poll published at the weekend suggests Labour should be much more worried about losing votes to the Greens.
In a post on his Comment is Freed Substack blog, Sam Freedman disclosed the results of a Convergent Opinion poll of 10,000 people who voted in the local elections that was intended to find out why they voted as they did. It shows that 30% of people who voted Green were also open to voting Labour (they said they had considered it), but only 6% of people who voted Reform UK were. View image in fullscreen Local election polling Photograph: Comment is Freed In his commentary, Freedman says: double quotation mark At a national level it is now well established that Labour is losing more votes to the Greens and Lib Dems than Reform. Pollsters don’t agree on how big this gap is but they do agree there is one. We also know that voters who have switched to parties on the left are more willing to consider returning that ones who’ve gone rightwards. Our poll found that 30% of voters who ended up going Green considered voting Labour, but only 6% of those who went Reform. A political strategy [by Labour] that refuses to acknowledge this skew towards the Greens, or that tries to dismiss them as crazies, is not going to work. The research also found that Reform UK supporters were far more likely to vote in the local elections than the supporters of other parties – which contributed to the reasons why Nigel Farage’s party did so well. View image in fullscreen Turnout in local elections by party support Photograph: Sam Freedman Share 3h ago 12.49 BST The Labour MP Luke Akehurst is not impressed by what the Times is describing as Burnham’s new logo for the Makerfield byelection. (See 12.22pm.) Akehurst, who is not a cheerleader for the Burnham fan club, says: double quotation mark I’m guessing this isn’t real as A) it has no imprint to say it has been authorised for publication by the General Secretary of the Labour Party B) the logo looks like it was designed in the early 1990s by a local branch of the Socialist Worker Student Society & doesn’t follow any Labour brand guidelines C) there is a typo - should read “Vote Labour” not “Change Labour” Share 3h ago 12.43 BST UK will not have to pay Rwanda £100m over failed asylum scheme, court rules The UK will not have to pay the Rwandan government millions of pounds over a failed migrant deportation scheme set up by Boris Johnson’s administration, an international court has ruled. Rajeev Syal has the story. UK will not have to pay Rwanda £100m over failed asylum scheme, court rules Read more Share 3h ago 12.34 BST Corbyn says ban on Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker coming to UK 'absurd and cowardly' Jeremy Corbyn, the parliamentary leader of Your Party, has also criticised the government’s decision to ban two US commentators from entering the country, apparently because their views on Israel and fears that what they say at speaking events could exacerbate antisemitism. (See 11.17am.) Corbyn said: double quotation mark Banning Cenk Uyghur and Hasan Piker from entering the UK is an absurd and cowardly decision from an increasingly authoritarian government. Let us call this what it is: an attack on the freedom to criticise Israel, as well as the UK government’s own complicity in genocide. Share
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