Senior government officials have been considering whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents that show Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting before he assumed the role of US ambassador. According to multiple reports, Mandelson did not receive vetting clearance from security officials, but that decision was overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post. Officials across government have been in dispute over whether to release documents that reveal those facts, and other information about Mandelson’s security vetting, to the parliamentary intelligence and security committee. As of Thursday morning, a decision had not been made about whether the committee should have access to documents about Mandelson’s vetting by UK Security Vetting and the Foreign Office’s decision to override it.
Peter Mandelson was sacked as UK ambassador to the US in September 2025 after the extent of his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was revealed in documents released by the US Department of Justice. A second tranche of US Department of Justice documents released in late January 2026 allegedly suggested Mandelson had passed market-sensitive information and Downing Street emails to Epstein while serving in Gordon Brown’s government. Lord Mandelson is reportedly under criminal investigation over allegations he passed sensitive information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when he was a Labour minister.
In February 2026, parliament voted for a rare motion brought by the Tories to compel the government to publicly release all papers relating to Mandelson’s appointment. The dossier came after MPs ordered the government last month to release tens of thousands of documents relating to the 2024 appointment following questions over how the peer was vetted. The UK government has published the first tranche of files relating to the appointment of former ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson.
Lord Mandelson lied repeatedly to No 10 about his relationship with Epstein, before and during his tenure as ambassador.
The first batch of documents published by the Government, five weeks after it was ordered by the Commons, was only 147 pages long, with more than 30 of them blank. Government documents running to 147 pages have revealed new details about the appointment of Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the US and the fallout from his sacking last year. Crucial answers provided by Mandelson when asked by Downing Street about his links to Epstein were also held back, at the request of Scotland Yard while it investigates him for misconduct in public office.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was advised that Lord Mandelson's relationship with Epstein posed a general reputational risk ahead of his confirmation as US ambassador. In 2024 the Prime Minister received an official report showing Mandelson's relationship with Epstein carried on after his conviction. According to the prime minister, he did not know the extent and depth of Lord Mandelson's relationship with Epstein when he appointed him.
The documents suggest that Lord Mandelson requested a severance payment of more than £500,000 after being sacked as the UK's ambassador to the US, but he got £75,000. The Treasury ultimately agreed a payment of £75,000. Internal Foreign Office emails show Peter Mandelson got £40,330 in lieu of three months' notice and a special severance payment of £34,670. Peter Mandelson asked for a payout of the remainder of his full salary, £161,318 a year over the four-year term, which would have amounted to £547,201.
Peter Mandelson has previously apologized unequivocally for his association with Jeffrey Epstein and to the women and girls that suffered.
Lord Mandelson was arrested on February 23 on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. Peter Mandelson's conduct led to a police investigation and his arrest last month, but he has not been charged. Lord Mandelson was arrested by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office on Monday and later released on bail, pending further investigation.
It is my understanding that Lord Mandelson remains of the view that he did not lie to the prime minister, does not recall being asked questions about Epstein face to face during vetting interviews and answered written questions about his contact with the sex offender after his conviction truthfully and fully. Peter Mandelson's lawyers have said he is cooperating with the investigation and his overriding priority is to clear his name. According to the BBC, Lord Mandelson did not respond to requests for comment but its understanding is that his position is that he has not acted in any way criminally and that he was not motivated by financial gain.
As many as 100,000 records and messages are believed to have been gathered from No10, the Foreign Office and Whitehall departments about Mandelson's appointment as US Ambassador and his sacking over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Lord Mandelson is to be asked to hand over messages from his personal phone as part of the disclosure of documents related to his appointment as UK ambassador to the US. The Cabinet Office is preparing to publish thousands of files after he was sacked from the role, including messages between Lord Mandelson and Labour ministers and advisers, but has so far only had access to the peer's work phone. The Cabinet Office yesterday finally asked Mandelson for the messages on his personal phone, almost two months after MPs demanded their publication.
My chief concern centred on how I would depart the US and arrive in the UK with the maximum dignity and minimum media intrusion which I think is to the advantage of all concerned.
McSweeney's work phone was stolen in October, a month after Lord Mandelson was sacked, but several months before MPs demanded the publication of relevant messages. Ministers fear Morgan McSweeney could be hauled before MPs to testify about his relationship with Peter Mandelson after the theft of his phone.
Downing Street officials have been ordered to hand over private messages on WhatsApp groups involving Peter Mandelson, as the investigation widens into his disastrous appointment as British ambassador to Washington. Cat Little, the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, has written to officials involved in the decision to appoint Mandelson asking them to hand over any group chat exchanges on private devices.
Senior MPs and peers will have the final say on whether sensitive information is published relating to Peter Mandelson's appointment and role as US ambassador. Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee said it had confirmed with the government that it alone would make the decision on publishing sensitive information. The ISC said agreement had been reached on which papers would be published, with hopes some could be released shortly. Material the government considers damaging to national security or diplomatic relations will be sent to the cross-party ISC and the parliamentarians will decide what to publish.
I wanted to release the documents but I will not publish anything that could damage national security or diplomatic relations.
The government was forced to hand over control of that part of the process to the ISC following concern by MPs that Downing Street could have too much say in what is published. On Thursday, the ISC said it had received a written guarantee that neither the prime minister nor the government would have the final say on what is considered too sensitive to disclose.
The Metropolitan Police and government have agreed a framework to determine which documents can be released without prejudicing a criminal investigation into Lord Mandelson. The Metropolitan Police has told the government not to release certain documents that could undermine its investigation. The BBC understands that one specific exchange police have blocked from being released next month includes three questions Sir Keir put to Lord Mandelson about his friendship with Epstein prior to his appointment as US ambassador. The questions were related to his continued contact with Epstein after his first conviction for soliciting.
A UK government spokesperson said officials were proceeding at pace to publish the first tranche of documents in early March and working closely with the ISC to fulfil their requests. Material about the vetting and appointment of Peter Mandelson is currently being received by the Cabinet Office from across government and it is hoped some of it will be published soon.
POLITICO last month revealed serious concerns from current and former security officials about the process that appointed Peter Mandelson. The key findings of the 2019 JP Morgan report were shared in a due diligence checklist with Keir Starmer on Dec. 11, days before he appointed Peter Mandelson on Dec. 20. The 2019 report commissioned by JPMorgan found Jeffrey Epstein appeared to maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew the Duke of York and Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British government.