{"id":11330,"date":"2026-06-01T16:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11330"},"modified":"2026-06-01T16:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:01:41","slug":"a-new-trove-of-mandelson-files-brings-more-bad-news-for-keir-starmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11330","title":{"rendered":"A new trove of Mandelson files brings more bad news for Keir Starmer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>By JILL LAWLESS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>LONDON (AP) \u2014\u00a0Peter Mandelson\u00a0assured the British government it would \u201cnever regret\u201d appointing him as ambassador to the United States, according to documents released on Monday, a pledge that was dramatically proven wrong within months.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11328\">Congress has taken on Epstein. But lawmakers and survivors are still searching for accountability<\/a><\/p>\n<p>More than 1,500 pages of files relating to the appointment of Mandelson, a friend of convicted sex offender\u00a0Jeffrey Epstein, as envoy to Washington at the start of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s second term, were released by the government to comply with a\u00a0demand by lawmakers<\/p>\n<p>They shed new light on the contentious decision and heap more embarrassment on beleaguered\u00a0Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Mandelson was fired after nine months, and fallout from the misjudged appointment has left Starmer\u00a0fighting for his job.<\/p>\n<p>Among the documents is a note from Mandelson to then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy, before his appointment, pledging that the government would \u201cnever regret\u201d giving him the job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI fear that navigating Britain\u2019s interests through the Trump administration will require super-human skills and luck and a massive team effort,\u201d Mandelson said in the November 2024 note. His appointment was announced the following month.<\/p>\n<h4>Mandelson\u2019s friendship with Epstein poses \u2018reputational risk\u2019<\/h4>\n<p>A first trove of files published in March revealed ministers had been warned that Mandelson\u2019s friendship with Epstein exposed the government to \u201creputational risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was later disclosed that Mandelson had been approved for the ambassador\u2019s job despite failing\u00a0security checks, a revelation that sparked bitter blame-trading between Starmer and senior civil servants who oversaw the security vetting.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The files released Monday shed some light on discussions within government about the appointment, but key details remain a mystery. Some documents have been redacted on national security grounds, and others have been withheld at the request of police investigating Mandelson for alleged misconduct in public office.<\/p>\n<p>It remains unclear why Mandelson failed security checks. The summary of his vetting process wasn\u2019t among the documents released, as it is part of the police investigation. Officials have said it is not because of his ties to Epstein. A background report drawn up by officials before Mandelson was appointed, released by the government in March, flagged business ties to Russia and China as a concern, and noted his resignations from two previous Labour governments because of scandals over money and ethics.<\/p>\n<p>Also missing is any record of what measures, if any, were taken to mitigate the risk of giving Mandelson the job.<\/p>\n<p>Mandelson refused to hand over information from his personal phone to officials, and the government \u201chas no further recourse to search the personal devices of Peter Mandelson,\u201d the documents released on Monday say.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mandelson, 72, was briefly arrested in February by detectives investigating allegations he passed sensitive government information to Epstein when he was a minister in the British government a decade and a half ago.<\/p>\n<p>He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11326\">Nvidia bets on AI personal computers with new \u2018superchip\u2019 powering Windows laptops<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Starmer\u00a0fired Mandelson\u00a0in September 2025 after an earlier release of documents showed he had maintained contact with Epstein after the financier\u2019s 2008 conviction for sexual offenses involving a minor.<\/p>\n<p>Critics say Starmer\u2019s decision to appoint Mandelson is evidence of bad judgment by a prime minister who has made\u00a0repeated missteps\u00a0since he led the center-left Labour Party to a\u00a0landslide election victory\u00a0in July 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Details about Mandelson\u2019s ties to Epstein, revealed in\u00a0a huge trove of files\u00a0published by the U.S. Department of Justice in January, raised new questions about Starmer\u2019s judgment, driving opponents and some Labour lawmakers to\u00a0call for the prime minister\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n<p>Those calls intensified after Labour suffered big losses in local elections in May. A senior Cabinet minister,\u00a0Wes Streeting, resigned with the intention of challenging Starmer for the Labour leadership.\u00a0Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham\u00a0is running for a seat in Parliament in a June 18 special election and is also expected to challenge Starmer if he wins.<\/p>\n<h4>The documents expose some unflattering comments about Starmer<\/h4>\n<p>The documents include emails and text messages between Mandelson and government ministers and advisers, some discussing weighty affairs of state, others sharing gossip or unusual details.<\/p>\n<p>At one point, Mandelson and other officials discussed commissioning a red dispatch box like those used by U.K. government ministers, inscribed \u201cPresident of the United States\u201d as a gift for Trump during his September 2025 state visit to the U.K. But the box was delayed by political concerns and issues at the manufacturer. Mandelson expressed his frustration with the holdup, saying officials had known about the request for months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd nobody had the wit to say anything,\u2019\u2019 Mandelson wrote to Morgan McSweeney, then Starmer\u2019s chief of staff, on Aug. 27. \u201cWhat incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Behind closed doors, Peter Mandelson didn\u2019t always give Starmer his full-throated support. In May 2025, Mandelson told Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden on WhatsApp that \u201cKeir lacks verve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mantra is Plan for Change. But what is the Plan?\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>In a WhatsApp exchange with Pensions Minister Torsten Bell, Mandelson said the big picture was \u201cmessy\u201d because the government didn\u2019t do a good job formulating policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, that is definitely true \u2013 everyone seems to think it\u2019s someone else\u2019s job to get the policy right \u2026 which is very odd,\u2019\u2019 Bell wrote on July 20. 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the saying goes, rubbish in, rubbish out \u2026,\u2019\u2019 Mandelson responded.<\/p>\n<p><em>Associated Press writers Brian Melley and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11320\">Hats off to Cal State Fullerton\u2019s Class of 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces more embarrassment with the release of files on ex-U.K. ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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