A former Labour defence secretary has said he does not believe anyone who knows Peter Mandelson will be surprised at the contents of released WhatsApp messages.
Speaking on GB News, Geoff Hoon said: “I don’t think anybody will be surprised to learn what Peter [Mandelson] has been saying in these various emails and WhatsApps.
“Peter has a reputation for speaking his mind, but also for being somewhat waspish in the process.
“There’s been a huge release of information, huge numbers of pages of documentation that people are going through as we speak, I suspect. And unless and until there is any proof of your suggestion [that messages between Mandelson and the Prime Minister and Mandelson and Darren Jones have been withheld] you are speculating.
“Peter Mandelson has withheld his own WhatsApps for what I understand to be legal reasons, and I think that’s probably understandable in the circumstances, given that there is a police investigation into quite a serious issue affecting him. I’m sure his lawyers have given him proper advice.
“Pat McFadden, who, of course, is now responsible for welfare spending, has always been very practical and very pragmatic. He has been one of the stars of the government in the way that he’s handled interviews and presentations.
“[Pat McFadden] was pushing back on the argument and saying actually he didn’t accept the argument. He’s made clear in those WhatsApps, and actually he doesn’t believe that that is the right place to start.
“Given the state of the opinion polls at the moment, it’s probably not very surprising that a significant number of members of trade unions are suggesting that they might vote, if the vote were to take place today, in a particular direction. That’s not remarkable, given the state of the opinion polls.
“What is absolutely vital is how they vote in a general election. There’s actually quite a lot of polling evidence to suggest that whilst people have protested in recent local government elections, that actually they will think very differently when it comes to deciding who should run the country.
“And that, of course, is not a decision that has to take place for a number of years yet.
“I think there’s also a temptation in these circumstances to read a great deal into one day’s opinion polling. They’re a snapshot, no more than that, and the snapshot is of a number of people’s opinions, no more than that.
“I’m not in any way suggesting that people are not entitled to those opinions. But I find and I found over many years in politics that when it comes to serious decisions like who should run the country, a decision at a general election, people vote very differently from the views they express, the opinions they give to pollsters in these kinds of opinion polls.”