The Guardian view on the Mandelson files: the missing vetting document matters most | Editorial

A data dump exposes Labour’s courtier politics. But it still does not explain why the peer was cleared to be US ambassador

The Epstein files fatally damaged Peter Mandelson. Gone was his reputation as Westminster’s great survivor: the politician who could weather any scandal and return to the centre of power. Allegations that he leaked market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after the financial crash led to a criminal investigation. The peer was sacked as Britain’s US ambassador. He denies any wrongdoing.

Yet the “humble address” files also damage the government. The hundreds of emails, notes and social media conversations, released on Monday, mostly show an unsurprising version of Lord Mandelson – wheedling, criticising and positioning himself as the man who knows the court. Parliament asked to see why he was allowed into one of the most sensitive jobs in the British state. The government has shown us what he said once he got there. That is not the same thing.

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