Cabinet minister Darren Jones has vowed "full transparency" over the Peter Mandelson files, just a few hours before the first batch is released.
Hundreds of documents relating to the appointment of Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the US are expected to shine a light on what Downing Street knew about the peer's friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Lord Mandelson was fired from his taxpayer-funded role back in September 2025 after No10 admitted the pair were closer associates than previously believed.
The New Labour minister, who worked alongside former Prime Ministers Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office last month over allegations he leaked sensitive information.
Lord Mandelson resigned from Labour last month, is due to be stripped of his peerage, and remains under police investigation.
Before the release of the vetting documents today, Mr Jones will address MPs in the House of Commons to make a full statement across the chamber after PMQs.
The decision to postpone the announcement until after Sir Keir's weekly Commons showdown spurred on cries of "dodging questions” over the vetting process.
Although the Government would never ordinarily release such papers, MPs forced No10's hand after using a parliamentary procedure, known as a humble address.
A second batch of internal documents will be released at a later date, the PM's right-hand man told GB News
|GB NEWS
A second batch of documents will be released at a later date, Mr Jones told the People's Channel.
"There will be full transparency because obviously there is a cross-party agreement, including with the Government," Mr Jones told GB News, discussing the upcoming release.
He continued: "The actions and behaviour of Peter Mandelson and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein should be fully transparent."
LATEST ON THE PETER MANDELSON SCANDAL:
Internal documents about Lord Mandelson's appointment will be released today
|PA
Mr Jones also pointed out that some of the documents will not be released due to Scotland Yard's investigation.
He explained: "That's primarily because the extra documents that we've been putting together across Government need to go through the Metropolitan Police, because there is a live criminal investigation underway.
"And also [through] the Intelligence and Security Committee in Parliament, before we can put them into the public domain."
"But the first tranche will be published later this afternoon," Mr Jones added.
Asked whether Sir Keir's Government admits the peer "should never have been appointed to the role", Mr Jones stood in defence of the Prime Minister.
"The Prime Minister has already said that he regrets appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States, and has apologised for doing so," the No10 Chief Secretary started.
"There are some documents which we are not allowed to publish today because they are part of the Metropolitan Police's criminal investigation. That will unfortunately need to be released later in the process.
"But it goes to the point that the Prime Minister has made previously, which is the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson relationship with Jeffrey Epstein wasn't clear to him all the Government until documents were published by Bloomberg and later the United States Department for Justice.
"And if he would have known the depth and extent and the ongoing nature of the relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein, he would never have appointed him in the first place."
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