Keir Starmer to chair Cabinet after Peter Mandelson files expose Labour divisions
Keir Starmer will gather his senior ministers for a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning as the Peter Mandelson scandal continues to engulf the Government
Keir Starmer will face his senior ministers for a Cabinet meeting this morning as the Peter Mandelson scandal casts a shadow over the Government once again.
A vast trove of files released on Monday revealed the disgraced ex US Ambassador branded Mr Starmer’s No10 “beleaguered and bereft” and said the Prime Minister lacked “verve”. The more than 1,000 pages of documents also showed key Starmer ally Pat McFadden voicing his exasperation with Labour colleagues in messages to Lord Mandelson.
All eyes will be on Mr McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, as he attends today's Cabinet meeting in Downing Street. In messages to Lord Mandelson, he expressed concerns about the PM’s position during last summer’s benefit cuts revolt. He said: “Lot of manoeuvring here this week. Angela, Gordon. Doesn’t feel good for Keir.”
Mr McFadden, who is weighing up benefits reforms later this year, also complained Labour MPs wanted to increase taxes to fund benefits. He said Labour MPs were "asking the wrong questions", adding: "Every meeting I have is 'who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others'."
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Paymaster General and a Cabinet Office Minister, today defended Mr McFadden, describing him as a “diligent, committed minister” and said his views on social security and welfare “are very well known and consistent”.
He said: “Pat’s view has always been that it is not about benefits, that is not where the debate should be. The debate should be about opportunity, and indeed that is what he has been working on.”
Meanwhile, Mr Thomas-Symonds faced questions about his phone being stolen after his messages were missing from the Mandelson files. Today, he said the incident - in which his phone was swiped by three people on mopeds on his wife’s birthday - was a “nightmare”.
He told Sky News: “This was my personal phone, rather than my government phone. Alas, I can remember the date, because it was my wife's birthday. Actually, it was the 15th of October last year, 2025.
“I was walking from a dinner late in the evening. It was actually, believe it or not, walking down Marsham Street, quite close to the Home Office. In fact, I was holding the phone - I was on the phone. And I'm afraid three three people on, as it were, mopeds top to toe in black. One of them swiped the phone, 15th of October.
“Unfortunately, as well, I lost not only WhatsApps, I also lost, unfortunately, personal photos of mine, going back a few years. It was a nightmare, actually, in terms of recovering items.”
The PM's former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney has also faced pressure after a stolen phone meant his WhatsApps could not be retrieved.
Mr Starmer dismissed Lord Mandelson in September 2025 amid mounting calls for his removal following leaked emails which revealed the peer had sent supportive messages even as Jeffrey Epstein faced imprisonment for sex offences.
MPs voted earlier this year to compel the release of documents relating to his period as ambassador. MPs will get their chance to debate the second batch of files on Wednesday.
The mood among Labour MPs was described as "flat" on Monday by one backbencher. Another told the Mirror: "Telling us to put on a united front seems pointless when we've got messages from cabinet members out there for all to see saying how poor the government is. It's just a waiting game now."
It comes against the backdrop of an all-but-official leadership race in which Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting are vying to replace Mr Starmer. Last night, Greater Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham, who is trying to return as an MP in the Makerfield by-election later this month, seized on the Mandelson files, saying they will "further damage people's confidence in our political system".
Catch up on our live blog on the Mandelson files by clicking here.
