'Who can we tax': Another big political row brewing over WhatsApp message to Mandelson

PETER MANDELSON IS back on many of the British front pages this morning, after messages released in relation to his appointment as UK ambassador to the US laid bare splits within Labour in a fresh headache for prime minister Keir Starmer. 

The more than 1,000 pages of documents released on Monday included records of WhatsApp exchanges between Mandelson and a number of government ministers. 

Many of the papers have focused on one exchange with the UK’s work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden, who revealed his frustration with his colleagues in the wake of local election losses and a byelection defeat in May 2025.

“Lot of manoeuvring here this week. Angela (Rayner), Gordon (Brown). Doesn’t feel good for Keir,” McFadden texted Mandelson. 

He also complained that Labour MPs were “asking the wrong questions”.

“Every meeting I have is ‘who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others’,” he said.

McFadden, who was the senior minister in the Cabinet Office at the time, also acknowledged Starmer’s authority risked being destroyed by a Labour revolt over welfare reforms. “I think it’s very bad. Defeat, pull Bill or gut it all destroys his authority,” he said.

Mandelson was also highly critical of Starmer’s operation in messages, saying the Labour leader “lacks verve” and that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could not explain where economic growth would come from.

In a message to McFadden in July 2025, he said: “I went into No10 after I saw you. It is beleaguered and bereft. It requires complete revamp and infusion of purpose and confidence to get anywhere.”

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The Times is one of the papers leading with McFadden’s ‘who can be taxed’ comment to Mandelson. The paper says the exchanges reveal the extent of frustration among Starmer’s ministers over what it describes as his “lacklustre leadership”. 

The Daily Telegraph splashes a photo of Starmer looking downcast alongside a photo of McFadden. The headline is his quote on taxes to pay benefits to others in full. 

The Independent says the “bombshell messages” reveal Mandelson’s verdict on Starmer’s government, but note that he refused to hand over his WhatsApp messages to the inquiry. 

The i paper notes that while the files don’t contain a smoking gun, the messages reveal how quickly some of Starmer’s ministers lost faith in his ability to lead the party. 

Taking a different approach, the Guardian focuses on how Mandelson was receiving “sensitive security briefings” and was in discussions with the head of MI6 before his vetting had been completed. 

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The Daily Mirror asks ‘What is left to hide?’ amid the news that Mandelson has not handed over his private phone to the inquiry. It also writes that the messages with other ministers revealed his “extraordinary treachery behind Keir Starmer’s back”.

The Daily Mail’s headline paints Mandelson as “Labour’s poisonous puppet master” and says the files exposed “toxic infighting” within the party. 

The Daily Express leads with “Labour’s obsession with raising taxes to pay for benefits” and uses McFadden’s text to Mandelson as its headline.

The Sun uses Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s quote to dub Starmer’s Labour “the welfare party” on its front page.

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