Peter Mandelson will be asked to hand over messages on his personal phone as the government seeks to publish any interactions that relate to his appointment as US ambassador.
Communications between ministers and the former Labour peer are due to be released in an effort to shed light on Lord Mandelson’s appointment to the job in Washington, despite his known links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
It is understood that officials will now ask the former ambassador to hand over any relevant documents from his personal phone, including messages with ministers.
Government sources have said the move comes as part of an information-gathering plan, and insisted it is not connected to the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone.
The loss of the device, which was stolen last October, has raised concerns that messages between Mr McSweeney and Lord Mandelson could now be lost.
Mr McSweeney, who is said to have pushed for the former Labour peer’s appointment as US ambassador, resigned as Sir Keir’s chief of staff earlier this year over his role in the decision.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it was “very suspicious that the phone got stolen” after it became “clear that a lot of documents were going to come out”.
But Sir Keir Starmer has said accusations of a cover-up are “a little bit far-fetched”, and brushed off suggestions the claim was an attempt to obfuscate.
He said: “The phone was stolen. It was reported to the police. There’s a transcript of the call in which Morgan McSweeney gives his name, his date of birth, the details of the phone, and the police confirm that it was reported.
“Unfortunately, there are thefts like this. It was stolen. It was reported at the time, the police have acknowledged and confirmed that. That is what happened.”
Messages between ministers and Lord Mandelson are set to be published as part of the second tranche of the so-called Mandelson files, after MPs moved in February to force the release.
The first tranche of documents related to the peer’s appointment, published earlier this month, showed the prime minister handed Lord Mandelson the ambassadorial role despite being advised that his relationship with Epstein posed a “general reputational risk”.
Lord Mandelson, a political appointment rather than a career diplomat, was sacked from his Washington role in September last year over his links with Epstein after further information came to light in the release of documents in the US.
He was arrested on 23 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, having been accused of passing sensitive information to Epstein during his time as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.
