Comments
The final tranche of the Mandelson files was released this afternoon – though no thanks to Lord Mandelson. A Cabinet Office note released alongside the 1,500 pages of documents covering Mandelson’s time as our man in Washington said that messages held on his personal phone would not be handed over. As this was not a statutory inquiry, the Cabinet Office concluded it ‘has no further recourse to search the personal devices of Peter Mandelson’.
What they do have, though, are messages between Mandelson and members of the government who have had no choice but to comply. For those hoping for explosions, this particular minesweeper has not – at the time of writing – found much. Much of the document is covered in redaction tipp-ex and there are only two sets of messages between Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney. Eyebrows will be raised that one of the duo had his phone stolen and the other is not cooperating.
The message that stood out to me, though, was between the Work and Pensions Secretary, Pat McFadden, and the disgraced lord. I feel this exchange neatly sums up the dependency quagmire Britain has found itself in:
As to where things go next, expect questions about the cost
