Tories Accuse Starmer of Withholding Mandelson Messages
Based on a single report from The Guardian, Conservative shadow minister Alex Burghart has accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of not revealing all his communications with Peter Mandelson. The accusation follows the release of Mandelson documents under a humble address tabled by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who suspected Starmer was covering up the full extent of what he knew about Mandelson’s connections with Jeffrey Epstein. The released documents did not provide new evidence on that assertion, but some material related to Epstein was held back due to a police investigation. Burghart pointed to extensive redactions and missing exchanges, saying that almost no messages between the prime minister and Mandelson, or between Mandelson and close allies like Peter Kyle, were published. He stated that either the material is being deliberately withheld or has been deleted, and noted that Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones could not give an assurance that Starmer had not deleted any messages.
What’s reported
Alex Burghart, shadow Cabinet Office minister, said Starmer has not revealed all his Mandelson messages.
Burghart cited “acres of white space,” “constellations of asterisks,” and “huge amounts of redactions” in the 1,500 pages released.
He noted that many ministers submitted “nil returns” for their WhatsApp exchanges with Mandelson.
Burghart said either the messages are being withheld or have been deleted.
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the PM, was unable to give an assurance that Starmer had not deleted messages.
The Mandelson documents were released only because of a Conservative humble address; no new evidence backed Kemi Badenoch’s suspicion that Starmer covered up Epstein connections.
Some Epstein-related material was held back due to the police investigation.
Open questions
Whether Starmer or other ministers deleted Mandelson messages, or if the missing exchanges were due to other reasons.
Whether any withheld Epstein-related material would have changed the assessment of the appointment.
Key figures
Alex Burghart, shadow Cabinet Office minister
Keir Starmer, Prime Minister
Peter Mandelson, former ambassador appointee
Kemi Badenoch, Conservative leader
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the PM
Pat McFadden, Labour MP
Peter Kyle, Labour MP
Sources: The Guardian
