The Labour front bench will not be looking forward to the return of Parliament. On 1 June 2026, after the parliamentary recess, the second set of the Mandelson Files will be released, set to expose the disgraced Epstein-informant’s cosy relationship with senior Labour Party officials.
Mandelson and the Policy Network
Last week, it was revealed that United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) had flagged Mandelson’s bimonthly conversations with Tamir Hayman, a former Israeli military intelligence chief. Earlier this year, we learnt that UKSV’s recommendation that Mandelson not be granted security clearance was overruled by Foreign Office officials.
However, less attention has been paid to Policy Network, the Mandelson-led think tank whose list of former directors reads like a Who’s Who of Labour Party grandees.
The organisation has previously been criticised for obscuring how much it was receiving from specific funders, although David Sainsbury was confirmed as a core donor. Sainsbury has also financed Labour Together, giving £125,000 in March alone.
In 2021, Peter Mandelson’s Policy Network merged with Progress, another Labour Party-linked operation which had received tens of thousands in donations from Mandelson and Tony Blair, amongst others. Progressive Britain is now led by Adam Langleben, a former national secretary of the Jewish Labour Movement.
Patrick Diamond
One of Policy Network’s co-chairs was Patrick Diamond, a former Special Advisor to Mandelson.
In the early 1990s, according to Diamond’s Wikipedia page, he spent time living and working at an Israeli colony called Lahav. Strangely, no other reference to his time at Lahav can be found online.
Like the IDF stint of Labour peer Jonathan Kestenbaum, unreported in the British media until my investigation last month, and the list of Labour Friends of Israel parliamentary supporters, scrubbed from the internet during the 2024 general election, it seems that links to the settler state have become less of a boasting point for senior Labour politicians.
Kibbutz Lahav, situated just 5km from the illegal Eshkolot settlement, was originally set up in 1952 by the Nahal, an IDF program that combined military service with the establishment of settlements. During the Gaza genocide, the IDF’s Nahal Brigade was being led by Nochi Mandel, a religious nationalist Israeli settler who called for Gaza to be deprived of aid. Mandel was only sacked, however, after an air strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy killed seven aid workers, including three British citizens.
Roger Liddle
Policy Network’s second co-chair was Roger Liddle, a Labour peer and former Special Adviser to Tony Blair.
In 2010, Liddle’s entrance to the House of Lords was officially “supported” by Mandelson. Later, during Keir Starmer’s first years in power, his “supper parties” would regularly host the Epstein-associate’s network, with Mandelson, Wes Streeting, and Morgan McSweeney amongst attendees. McSweeney’s inner circle would also be present: Matthew Doyle, Matt Faulding, and Matt Pound.
A former Labour frontbencher who served under Ed Miliband told me in February that McSweeney’s inner circle “ruled with a rod of iron” and “talked openly of taking over the Party”. Wes Streeting now wants Starmer’s job. His partner, Joe Dancey, is an ex-aide to Peter Mandelson.
Jonathan Mendelsohn
Jonathan Mendelsohn, an ex-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, was another director of Peter Mandelson’s Policy Network.
Mendelsohn has donated to a string of Labour Party MPs (sometimes through his Red Capital Ltd. operation), which includes ex-Health Minister Wes Streeting and current Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper. He also funded former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
In 2007, the Jewish Chronicle lauded the lobbyist’s influence, saying:
At ease in the corridors of power, Mendelsohn has the contacts and know-how to advance Israel’s case in his [Labour Friends of Israel] role.
When Gordon Brown appointed Mendelsohn as Labour’s director of general election resources, he was criticised for promoting an individual who had previously lobbied on behalf of the Ladbrokes betting firm.
In July 2008, Brown, a long-standing supporter of Labour Friends of Israel, became the first British Prime Minister to address the Israeli Knesset, declaring proudly:
My father … had a deep and life-long affection for Israel.
Stephen Hockman and Liam Byrne
Other Policy Network alumni include Stephen Hockman, one of the three UK Lawyers for Israel patrons accused of “using their professional seniority” to intimidate others in a legal complaint issued last week.
There is also Liam Byrne, a parliamentary supporter of Labour Friends of Israel who has previously accepted transportation paid for directly by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Labour Party hierarchy are now desperate to distance themselves from the Prince of Darkness, but the true extent of his influence is a story still waiting to be told.
Featured image via the Canary
