Key facts
- Cat Little said the Cabinet Office is beginning the process to prepare the documents for publication.
- Some documents will still be withheld at the request of the Metropolitan Police.
- The process is expected to be completed before Parliament rises for the Christmas recess on 17 December.
- Mandelson was arrested on 23 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
- The Met Police said its investigation into alleged misconduct in public office is ongoing.
The UK government is preparing to publish more documents about the appointment of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador, the Cabinet Office said. Cat Little, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, wrote to the chair of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee that the Metropolitan Police has allowed some of the documents to be published. "The Cabinet Office is now beginning the process to prepare these documents so that they may be laid before the House in response to the humble address motion as soon as possible," Little said.
Batches of papers were published in March and June, but others were withheld because they were part of a Metropolitan Police investigation. Little said some of the documents could "now be published without prejudicing their investigation". She said the documents would be reviewed and in some instances may need to be redacted "for the purposes of avoiding prejudice to national security or international relations". The process is expected to be completed before Parliament rises for the Christmas recess on 17 December.
Lord Mandelson was arrested on 23 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has repeatedly let it be known that he believes he has not acted criminally, did not act for personal gain and is cooperating with the police. The Met Police said in a statement: "Our investigation into alleged misconduct in public office is ongoing." The lifelong Labour politician became the British ambassador to the US in February 2025, but was sacked in September after Downing Street said new information about the extent of his relationship with Epstein had emerged.
After his sacking, the government, then led by Sir Keir Starmer, was heavily criticised for giving Lord Mandelson the job and in February MPs voted to force the government to publish papers relating to his appointment. Mike Wood, shadow Cabinet Office minister, said: "We still haven't got to the bottom of the Mandelson scandal. Labour did their utmost to hold this information back and it was only released because of the Conservatives humble address."