Former Minister Accuses Government of Ignoring Jeffrey Epstein Survivors Amid Mandelson Controversy

Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones, who resigned in May, has accused the government of neglecting the survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Speaking in the House of Commons, Davies-Jones asserted that victims have been treated as a "footnote" in the controversy surrounding Lord Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the US. She also conveyed a statement from US survivor Lisa Phillips, who claims Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has ignored her requests for a meeting.

Cabinet Office Minister Darren Jones offered to meet the victims and expressed regret for "subconsciously" treating Lord Mandelson with undue deference due to his power and influence within the Labour Party.

These exchanges occurred during a Commons debate regarding the government's response to a motion compelling the publication of files related to Lord Mandelson's appointment. The peer was dismissed in September 2025 after Downing Street cited new information about the extent of his relationship with Epstein. Sir Keir's decision followed a review of emails indicating Lord Mandelson sent supportive messages to Epstein in 2008 as the latter faced sex offence charges.

Davies-Jones highlighted that the most striking aspect of the affair was "not what has been said but what has been missing." She told the Commons, "For all the headlines that have been generated by this story, the people whose lives were devastated by Jeffrey Epstein's abuse have too often been reduced to a footnote."

Phillips, who has advocated for a public inquiry, conveyed her struggle to comprehend why Sir Keir appointed Lord Mandelson "when his association with Epstein had long been publicly known." She added, "I have repeatedly requested the opportunity to meet with the prime minister but those requests have all been ignored."

The first tranche of Mandelson documents was released in March, with over 1,000 additional pages published on Monday. These documents revealed messages between Lord Mandelson and ministers, including advice, news, and criticisms of Downing Street operations and Labour figures. Some documents have been withheld at the request of the Metropolitan Police, who are investigating Lord Mandelson over allegations of misconduct in public office. Lord Mandelson denies any wrongdoing.

Conservative shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart called for more transparency regarding the police's holdings, including the number of documents pertaining to Lord Mandelson and the Prime Minister. The Conservatives have also criticised the government for allegedly failing to publish all relevant documents, citing the absence of records detailing when the Prime Minister formally made the decision to appoint Mandelson.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds explicitly "rejects the idea of a cover-up" in response to questions about Sir Keir's use of WhatsApp's auto-delete function. The latest Mandelson documents contained only a few texts from the Prime Minister, who stated he had provided all "messages I hold" and had "complied" with the process. Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh questioned the Prime Minister's use of the auto-delete feature, warning that "these scandals are made much worse by any hint of a cover-up."