"Senior figures in Sir Keir Starmer's government are preparing to hand over tranches of their electronic communications with Lord Mandelson ahead of the release of evidence about his appointment as US ambassador. The deepening scandal prompted an apology on Wednesday from Sir Keir to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for believing Lord Mandelson's "lies" and appointing him when the peer's friendship with the paedophile was already public knowledge."
"It comes as No 10's former communications director warned the disclosure of private messages could drag more public figures into the scandal. "I don't think anyone can understate the gravity of the situation," James Lyons told BBC Newsnight. "We've seen with the Covid inquiry how a huge amount of stuff can be thrown up through that. "I think this is at least the biggest scandal since the expenses scandal of 2009.""
"Any documents the government deems potentially unfit for the public eye will go to Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee for further scrutiny. That committee has said it expects the government to provide all documents within scope of that process which would include personal exchanges between government figures and Lord Mandelson stretching back to Labour's election victory. The committee added it expects the documents will be laid before parliament "very shortly"."
Senior figures in Sir Keir Starmer's government are preparing to hand over electronic communications with Lord Mandelson ahead of evidence about his US ambassador appointment. The scandal prompted an apology from Sir Keir to Jeffrey Epstein victims for believing Lord Mandelson's "lies" and appointing him despite a publicly known friendship with Epstein. Some Labour MPs are calling for the prime minister to stand down. No 10's former communications director warned disclosures could implicate more public figures. Sir Keir says files will show Mandelson lied about the extent of the friendship. Sensitive documents will go to the Intelligence and Security Committee and are expected to be laid before parliament shortly.
Read at www.bbc.com
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