Ministers tried to hide Mandelson messages

Cabinet ministers attempted to conceal their messages with Lord Mandelson from Parliament, The Telegraph can reveal.

Government officials dealing with the Mandelson files were forced to ask ministers to hand over their messages more than once, after initial reluctance.

Under the terms of a “humble address” motion drafted by the Conservatives in February, ministers, officials and special advisers were required to submit all WhatsApp and email messages exchanged with Lord Mandelson.

The motion has led to the release of the Mandelson files – a cache of thousands of documents relating to the peer, his vetting and work for the Government.

The second tranche will be released next week and will contain Lord Mandelson’s communications with ministers and other government officials during his time as ambassador.

The Telegraph revealed on Wednesday that the messages would include unsolicited “advice” to ministers from Lord Mandelson.

It can now be revealed that the Cabinet Office was forced to ask twice for the messages, because some ministers initially refused to send a full transcript of their conversations.

Two sources familiar with the process said officials had first requested communications between ministers and Lord Mandelson about their ministerial work.

However, ministers were not explicitly asked for personal messages, which would have revealed the extent of their relationships with the peer to Parliament and the public.

It is understood that some ministers argued that all their conversations with the US ambassador were not strictly related to their ministerial work, and were therefore exempt, finding an apparent loophole in the Cabinet Office’s request.

Civil servants were dismayed to receive “nil return” responses from some ministers with a known connection to Lord Mandelson, suggesting that some material had been censored or withheld.

Sources close to the process said that ministers had intentionally withheld some of their messages because they were embarrassed about their relationship with Lord Mandelson, rather than because they were complying with the more limited request.

Officials then sent a second email asking for all communications, including the personal conversations that the Government is now legally obliged to publish.

A Whitehall source close to the process said: “The first time the Cabinet Office asked, they got back nil returns from ministers who they knew had a relationship with him. So they had to go back again.

“The first request had only asked for messages pertaining to your role as minister. It allowed you to say: ‘It wasn’t to do with work, so I’m not going to hand it over.’”

Dame Priti: ‘Public will be appalled’

A second source said ministers should not be criticised for complying with the request for work-related conversations, but acknowledged that the Cabinet Office had been forced to ask a second time.

Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said: “The public will be appalled to know that self-serving Labour Cabinet ministers are trying to wipe their phones and cover up the truth about their relationships with, and the influence of, Peter Mandelson on this Government.

“Parliament voted for the release of every document in the Mandelson files, but at every stage Keir Starmer, his ministers and Labour MPs have tried to stop the public scrutiny of Mandelson’s appointment and hide the facts.

“This Labour government cannot be trusted. It has repeatedly handed jobs to disreputable political friends and put our national security at risk by appointing Mandelson, the best friend of a notorious paedophile with links to Russia and China.

“Labour are unfit to govern and continue to be reckless with the national security of our country and Britain’s standing in the world.”

The disclosure will add to concerns that some material within the scope of the Mandelson files will never be revealed.

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), which is in charge of approving any redactions on national security grounds, has complained about overzealous censorship by the Cabinet Office.

Lord Beamish, the chairman of the committee, said Lord Mandelson’s vetting file had been one of the documents kept back.

The committee argues that while some redactions may be justified, MPs must be allowed to decide which material is placed in the public domain.

The ISC has also complained about delays affecting the Mandelson files, after ministers moved back the deadline for publishing the second set of documents.

Mandelson’s grip on the Labour Party

The WhatsApp messages are likely to be the most damaging documents for serving government ministers, amid fears that embarrassing content will show the extent of Lord Mandelson’s grip on the Labour Party.

However, some of the messages are not recoverable by the Cabinet Office because ministers had enabled the “disappearing messages” feature on WhatsApp.

Further communications between Lord Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney, the former No 10 chief of staff, were lost when Mr McSweeney’s mobile phone was stolen in October.

Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, published his own messages with Lord Mandelson voluntarily in February, showing their conversations about government policy. They included a complaint from Mr Streeting that the Government had “no growth strategy”.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “Ministers and former ministers have replied to requests made under the humble address process.”

[Source: Daily Telegraph]