Mandelson Files add insult to injury, but the patient was already beyond saving
The deluge of emails, Whatsapp messages and hand-written notes released yesterday cover the full range of political and diplomatic life, from the absurd to the poignant; from rows over a gift for Donald Trump to soul-searching over Keir Starmer’s failures, it’s all there in black and white.
What’s clear at a glance is quite how deeply embedded Mandelson was across government and the top of the Labour party. It’s hard to imagine any other British ambassador with the contacts, networks and Westminster influence that defined Mandelson’s recent time at the top. And that is, of course, the entire point.
There has never been anyone quite like Mandelson and that was the reason why, despite all the risks, he was appointed. In a note to the then foreign secretary, David Lammy, when speculation about his appointment was dominating the news, Mandelson said that if he were sent to Washington on behalf of his country he “would make sure you never regret it.”
It’s easy to find a dramatic quality to all this. If you were to turn the saga into a stage play or TV drama you would, without a doubt, open with that exquisite hand-written hubris.
Never meant to see the light of day
While we must remember that Mandelson was sacked because he lied about his relationship with a notorious sex offender and because he faced allegations of such a serious nature that he was subsequently arrested, the release of these documents provides a valuable opportunity to eavesdrop on conversations and analyse decisions that were never meant to see the light of day.
The files provide insight into processes and they put public statements into a private context. Nowhere is this latter point more true than in the excruciatingly frank observations shared with Mandelson by Pat McFadden, one of Starmer’s most loyal ministers. His complaint that every meeting he has is about “who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others” will immediately assume the status of Liam Byrne’s infamous “sorry there’s no money left” letter. Tory and Reform campaigners are turning it into posters as I type.
Just as with Mandelson’s evident frustration with the lack of economic growth and the “beleaguered and bereft” Downing Street operation, these critiques carry more weight precisely because they’re a year old and events have now caught up with them. Starmer’s government is effectively over.
The Mandelson Files add insult to injury, but the patient was already beyond saving.