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The first tranche of documents relating to the disgraced peer Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US will be released by the government on Wednesday.
Ministers, advisers and civil servants have for weeks been bracing for the political fallout from the papers, which they fear could cause severe embarrassment for Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
The prime minister agreed to release the papers in response to demands for transparency over the 2024 appointment of Mandelson to the most senior diplomatic role in Britain’s foreign service, following questions about his vetting and what was known about his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
However, only a small proportion of the documents — expected to run into the tens of thousands overall — are expected to be published on Wednesday afternoon. Some papers are being held back from public view while Mandelson is investigated by the police in order to avoid prejudicing the investigation.
The Metropolitan Police arrested Mandelson last month and is investigating whether he committed misconduct in public office when he was business secretary in 2009 and 2010.
Other papers are still under review by the Cabinet Office, which will refer to the intelligence and security committee the documents the government wants to redact for national security or diplomatic reasons. The ISC will decide which redaction requests to grant.
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, defended the format for the publication of the papers on Wednesday. He insisted a “big number” would be released, even though it will be a small fraction of the total documents.
The papers will be published following a statement to the House of Commons by Jones, after Starmer has been grilled by MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions at noon.
Tory shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart has accused Starmer of trying to “dodge” scrutiny by releasing the files after PMQs.
Jones told Times Radio: “Because I run the Cabinet Office, at the centre of government, it was always my responsibility to give those updates to the House of Commons and statements always come after Prime Minister’s Questions.”
Starmer was forced to agree to the release of the documents last month by the Conservatives, who tabled a parliamentary motion known as a “humble address” pushing for transparency.
The prime minister has admitted he knew that Mandelson retained links with Epstein after the latter’s conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, but Starmer insisted the peer “lied repeatedly” about the extent of the friendship.
Jones told Sky News: “On this issue of Peter Mandelson and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, we all have a shared interest in bringing some accountability and transparency to these issues.”
He said after the first tranche of papers this week, a second tranche will come “later”, adding: “There’s been further work that we’ve had to do across government in response to the humble address, which is not quite ready.
“And we have two other processes that take a bit of time, given the live criminal investigation with the Metropolitan Police and the role of the intelligence and security committee in parliament has some oversight of it.”