A LABOUR minister has denied a “cover up” as he faced MPs’ fury after confirming crucial documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US would be delayed.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Darren Jones told Parliament that the second tranche of the so-called Mandelson files would not be published until June.
MPs previously voted to release the files, with those judged to be prejudicial to national security or international relations sent to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).
But the committee’s deputy chair Jeremy Wright told the Commons that the UK Government was redacting and withholding other material.
He said: “The ISC has been considering redactions to documents on the grounds that, if unredacted, those documents may prejudice national security or international relations.
“But it has become apparent to us that the Government also intends to redact documents for other reasons not specifically permitted in the humble address or, in some cases, to withhold those documents altogether.”
After his Tory shadow Neil O'Brien accused the Government of a "cover up", Jones replied: "If there was any suggestion of a cover up, I would not be standing at this despatch box to defend the process, I would resign."
Dave Doogan, the SNP Westminster leader, blasted the UK Government questioning why it could not share sensitive data with the ISC, which he described as the “least partisan organ of this Parliament” and which Tory MP Julian Lewis earlier noted had never leaked in its history.
He accused the Government of “withholding information and deviating unilaterally from the terms of the humble address”, which had stipulated that information could only be withheld from being made public by the ISC on national security or international relations grounds.
Jones insisted the only material being withheld was the “raw data” obtained during a vetting interview with Mandelson, which he said included details of the amount of money in his bank accounts and past relations.
Allowing this material to be published, the minister claimed, would jeopardise the vetting system more generally if those subject to it feared their answers could ever be made public or shared with politicians.
Jones said: “The Government has taken seriously its obligations to comply with the humble address in full, while also upholding other public interest issues, such as our duty of care to junior staff.
“The Government has carried out this work according to a robust process, with assurance from an independent KC.
“Given the House is due to rise on Thursday, and given the length of the publication, the second tranche will now be published after Whitsun recess to give the House sufficient time to review the material and to be able to ask me and the Government questions.
“It could have been published this Thursday, but I felt that the House would deem that to be inappropriate, given it will be such a significant publication. I just refer back to my previous comments – this will be the largest publication, other than, I think, the Chilcot Inquiry Report, ever published to the House.”
On the issue of redactions, the minister said that the material being censored amounted to "the names and contact details of junior officials or their telephone numbers".
