Another stunning performance from ‘the real Foreign Secretary’ and Chagos sellout architect Jonathan Powell is revealed in The Guardian this afternoon. It has emerged Starmer’s National Security Advisor attended denuclearisation talks in Geneva in February between the Americans and Iranians. What did he have to offer?
Not much by the sounds of it: “Powell thought progress had been made in Geneva and that the deal proposed by Iran was “surprising”, according to sources.” Just days later the US began to bomb Iran…
Powell’s proximity to the talks will raise further questions about why Starmer took so long to act when war broke out. His own NSA was around the table, yet HMS Dragon is still not any further than Gibraltar…
Confidential government emails obtained by Guido reveal that Starmer’s Chagos negotiator Jonathan Powell – now National Security Adviser – sought to obtain classified information relevant to the issue before he was announced in the role – and was shown at least some of that classified material in person. He corresponded about the material from a private, non-government email address. After requesting and seeing the classified documents in person, Powell subsequently travelled to China around a month later under the guise of his consultancy Inter Mediate…
On August 29th 2024 – just weeks after Labour won the general election – Powell emailed from his private consultancy email address to FCDO civil servants requesting “a low classification version” of a meeting minute between Starmer and the then Foreign Secretary David Lammy with the Mauritian Prime Minister. The email confirms he had already seen the classified document, presumably in a secure room at FCDO: “I read it when I came in but would like to see it again”. He suggests the document is probably too sensitive “for sending by Signal or WhatsApp” – so, what did it show?
Foreign Office officials, in a reply, refuse to send the minute remotely to Powell and instead offer “to print you a copy to read on arrival” – along with material on the financing of the deal. That “arrival” was in Port Louis – Powell clearly went straight there after being engaged by Starmer on the Chagos file…
The reply highlights the fact that Powell was not using “FCDO IT” – but presumably personal devices. Risky…
What business did Powell transact in this trip to Port Louis? Was the Chagos deal cooked up here, weeks before Parliament or the public heard anything of the matter? Was Powell working for the government or did he still have his Inter Mediate hat on?
Powell’s announcement as Starmer’s Chagos envoy was not made until 6 September. It is not clear what his vetting status was at the point at which he was shown classified documents. Why was he in receipt of secret material before Parliament and the public knew of his role?
Co-conspirators can click on the below screenshots to enlarge the images:
It’s Day Two of Guido’s Chagos Files, a trove of hundreds of Foreign Office emails which expose the inner workings of the negotiations over the now torpedoed Chagos deal. It does not make good reading for Starmer or his National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell…
As Guido revealed yesterday, Jonathan Powell was engaged on the Chagos issue by Foreign Office officials at least a month before his formal appointment as the PM’s envoy for BIOT sovereignty negotiations. During this period he was given extensive government information via email to his private email address, and took meetings with officials prior to his involvement being announced…
Now it has emerged that Powell visited China to attend a conference at ‘front organisation’ the Grandview Institution while working on the Chagos file. Powell was in Beijing from 20-22 September 2024, six weeks after his engagement on the Chagos issue began. As The Chagos Files reveal, Powell was working with FCDO officials from at least the 6 August of that year. Powell visited China in his private capacity as the head of consultancy Inter Mediate while simultaneously working as the government’s Chagos envoy…
The propriety of this visit is obviously questionable: Who paid for it? Was it funded by the Chinese government? Was Chagos on the agenda? Did FCDO officials attend and were discussions minuted? In what capacity did he visit China?
As one China expert notes: “The United Front Work Department is the CCP agency tasked with co-opting elites, intellectuals, and foreign figures to advance Beijing’s interests and neutralise opposition… Grandview operates as a direct facilitator for this apparatus… Grandview regularly hosts internal seminars on sensitive topics—such as Xinjiang—bringing together officials from the UFWD, the People’s Armed Police, and state media to coordinate policy and research.”
Why was Powell meeting with a Chinese government front organisation while simultaneously negotiating the sovereignty of Chagos – a matter of direct interest to the Chinese government?
Hat-tip: Chung Ching Kwong
Guido has obtained hundreds of emails from inside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and across government pertinent to Starmer’s Chagos deal. The documents, released under Freedom of Information laws, disclose the inside story of how the Chagos giveaway became an immediate priority for Starmer, and how Labour political appointees ordered Whitehall to push it through. Over the coming days, Guido will be publishing this correspondence as part of ‘The Chagos Files’ series…
Keir Starmer’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell was appointed ‘PM’s Envoy for the BIOT sovereignty negotiations’ on 6 September 2024. We know this because that was the date given to Parliament in a written answer…
However, Guido’s ‘Chagos Files’ reveal Powell was actually engaged on the Chagos issue at least a month prior to his appointment as a government official. An email from an FCDO civil servant to Powell sent on 6 August 2024 reads: “It was a pleasure to meet you on Friday. I do hope you are enjoying your break away. As requested, I am forwarding the below Mauritian news report (with attachment) from our High Commission in Port Louis for your info. I will forward these as they come through (usually daily or every other day).” In other words, Powell held meetings with civil servants while still a private citizen…
Powell was in receipt of government meetings and information prior to his formal appointment. At the time, he was working for his controversial consultancy Inter Mediate. The email, and dozens of subsequent press summaries, were sent to his non-government Inter Mediate email address – a potential security breach. Other emails show multiple Inter Mediate employees being copied into official government emails prior to Powell’s appointment…
Click the images below to enlarge…
The meeting between Powell and the FCDO civil servants from the ‘Overseas Territories and Polar Directorate’ to discuss Chagos took place barely a month after the 2024 general election, which was held on 4 July 2024. These emails contradict accounts given by Labour ministers to Parliament, and will raise further questions over the role of Powell and his private consultancy…
A huge blow was delivered to Starmer’s struggling Chagos deal today in an inadvertent briefing to The Guardian newspaper. The story – which Guido understands emerged from Powell’s team – was intended to signal he would not replace Morgan McSweeney as Chief of Staff. Powell is so far the only Mandelson confidant to survive his master’s implosion, as McSweeney was forced to leave Downing Street in the wake of the Epstein scandal…
The newspaper reported: “Powell’s allies say his decision not to take forward discussions about the job – the same role he undertook under Tony Blair’s premiership from 1997 to 2007 – was largely motivated by an intention to return to the mediation consultancy that he set up in 2011, with little interest in returning to a job he has already done.” That was meant to be a throwaway line to distance Powell from Mandelson, but it’s problematic…
As Guido has revealed, Powell’s consultancy Inter Mediate (which he founded in 2011) – to which he has “an intention to return” according to The Guardian – has deep links to China. Powell held a series of meetings with Chinese front Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Grandview Institution via Inter Mediate – it is not clear what if any financial relationship developed between the two. China hugely stands to benefit from the Chagos giveaway, it is in the interests of Chinese policy…
Powell has told a confusing story about the status of Inter Mediate – on occasion the organisation has maintained it is a charity, though The Guardian story repeatedly refers to it as a consultancy. During Powell’s government service as a taxpayer-paid special adviser as National Security Adviser, he has maintained his profile on the Inter Mediate website. The organisation released a triumphant statement when he was made NSA by Starmer. Sloppy accidental briefings are exactly the kind of thing that unravels, and this stench could bring down the Chagos deal with it…
Allies of Morgan McSweeney say National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell had a significant role in getting Mandelson into post as ambassador. One old Blairite helping out another…
Powell and Mandelson go back decades, having worked hand-in-glove throughout the New Labour years. Their long-running partnership includes Mandelson emailing Powell in 2002 to help arrange Tony Blair’s Downing Street meeting with Jeffrey Epstein. The full rundown of their relationship:
- 1994: Powell is recruited by Peter Mandelson via telephone call to work for Blair.
- 1995: Powell becomes Blair’s chief of staff in Opposition, joining Mandelson.
- 1997-2007: Both core members of Tony Blair’s inner circle in government, with Jonathan Powell as chief of staff and Mandelson in various cabinet roles during that time.
- 1998: Powell convinces Blair to remove nasty jokes about Mandelson from his Labour Party Conference Speech.
- 1999-2001: Powell leads backchannel talks on the Northern Ireland Peace process as Blair’s chief negotiator while Mandelson serves as Northern Ireland Secretary.
- 2000-1: Crisis management just before Mandelson’s resignation over the Hinduja passport scandal. Powell reportedly produces a note to lawyers of the Blair court Derry Irvine and Charlie Falconer along with Alastair Campbell confirming Mandelson’s insulation from related inquiries.
- 2002: Mandelson advises Powell via email to arrange Tony Blair’s meeting with Jeffrey Epstein in No10, telling Powell that Epstein is a “friend of mine” and was “safe“. As co-conspirators know, that meeting went ahead…
- 2010: Powell’s book ‘The New Machiavelli’ reflects on Blair-Brown rivalries, referencing Mandelson’s central role in the “triangle”.
- 2010: Powell claims Blair “rushed into dismissing Peter precipitately” after the Hinduja passport scandal broke but before Hammond’s inquiry into it. Claims this was because Blair government was “mesmerised by the press.”
- 2014: Mandelson says he had an “extremely close” relationship with Powell.
- 2024: Mandelson lobbies for Powell to brought back into Government after Labour won the Election. First into an ad-hoc role to negotiate the Chagos surrender deal, then more formally as National Security Adviser…
- 2024-2025: Powell appointed National Security Adviser, Mandelson as UK Ambassador to US.
Tim Allen and Morgan McSweeney have resigned effectively over their close relationship to Mandelson. Could Powell be next…
Andy Haldane, Burnham’s recent adviser on the economy who has not taken up a No10 job, told Andrew Marr on LBC:
“The market now suspects that this is a traditional tax-and-spend socialist government with better TikTok videos…
imposing windfall taxes on oil & gas or on banks or upping capital gains tax would […] repeat the mistake that Rachel made […] The Achilles heel, the fiscal Achilles heel of this government thus far has been its unwillingness and/or inability to cut public spending.”
