UK Committee Says Government Withholds Lord Mandelson Vetting File from MPs

The Intelligence and Security Committee said some documents related to Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the United States are being withheld from members of Parliament.

Lord Beamish, chair of the committee reviewing the documents, said Lord Mandelson's vetting file was one document kept back. He noted the government might have good reasons to withhold some material but lacks the authority to do so without ministers seeking MPs' approval.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said the government was working to publish as much material as it can as soon as possible.

Conservative shadow minister Alex Burghart called it outrageous that Labour was trying to withhold documents about the Mandelson-Epstein affair from Parliament. He accused the government of trying to pull the wool over the public and Parliament's eyes.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said, "This thing reeks. Why is the government trying to cover up, again, the scale of the Mandelson mess? What could be worse than what we've already seen?"

In February, MPs voted to force the government to publish all papers on the appointment through a humble address. The government initially opposed the motion, arguing it did not want to release material that could harm national security or diplomatic relations.

In a last-minute compromise, it agreed to send sensitive documents first to the Intelligence and Security Committee, which would decide what could be published.

Lord Beamish said the committee had reached decisions on all redactions requested by the government in the 337 documents referred to it. He said it was now up to the government to publish them within 28 sitting days.

He listed concerns about the government's response to the humble address. "The committee has been told that certain documents are being withheld from the process," he said, adding that the prime example was a vetting file held by UK Security Vetting.

Last month, UKSV had recommended against clearing Lord Mandelson for the job, but the Foreign Office gave him clearance anyway.

Lord Beamish also said the government was redacting documents too broadly, particularly personal information. He noted no body had been commissioned to review those redactions and assure Parliament they were within the spirit of the humble address.

Separately, he called it extraordinary how much government business appeared to be conducted over unofficial systems. Lengthy WhatsApp conversations between senior officials and ministers seemed to be the format by which government policy was formulated.

He said the committee had raised the issue with the last government, and it was disappointing to see the practice continue. This resulted in a lack of an audit trail that was unacceptable in government.

On March 11, the government said it was redacting documents to conceal details including people's phone numbers, the identity of junior civil servants, personal data of third parties and legal professional privilege.

Lord Beamish said the committee had told the government the humble address did not allow for those types of redactions and that it should ask Parliament's permission to remove them.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said the government takes its obligations to Parliament and the protection of national security extremely seriously. "We have been clear that the public deserve transparency and we are committed to complying with the humble address in full. Redactions will only be made where necessary and in a way which is transparent to the House."