Former victims minister Alex Davies-Jones said Wednesday that the British government has systematically ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as the political fallout over Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as U.S. ambassador continues to consume Westminster. Speaking in the House of Commons, Davies-Jones — who resigned as a justice minister in May — said victims had been reduced to a “footnote” in a scandal centered on power and influence rather than the harm Epstein caused.
“As previously covered by MSI, Sir Keir Starmer apologized to Epstein victims in February and backed Mandelson’s firing after the prime minister reviewed emails showing Mandelson sent supportive messages to Epstein as he faced sex-offense charges in 2008,” the record shows. The apology did not lead to sustained engagement with survivors.
Davies-Jones read a statement from Lisa Phillips, a U.S. survivor of Epstein, who said her requests for a meeting with Starmer had been ignored. “Must I now wait for the next prime minister to acknowledge me and my survivor sisters?” Phillips asked in the statement.
The Labour MP said what struck her most “about this whole affair is not what has been said but what has been missing.” She said that while “significant effort” went into “cultivating relationships with influential figures in the tech world, victims were left feeling unheard and overlooked.” Her own experience fighting “tooth and nail” within the government to have victims’ voices heard, she said, “showed something is not working as it should” and led to her “difficult but necessary decision to resign.”
Responding for the government, Cabinet Office Minister Darren Jones offered an apology. “Did I at best subconsciously treat Peter Mandelson differently because I believed him to have influence and power in the Labour Party? I think the answer to that question is yes, I did,” Jones said. “Have I benefited from that relationship in the time that I’ve been an elected politician? I think in part the answer to that question is yes, I did. And for that I’d like to apologise to the House, to the victims, to Lisa and commit to then doing something about it.” He said he would make himself available for a meeting with the survivors.
The debate came as the government published a second tranche of documents related to Mandelson’s appointment. More than 1,000 pages released Monday showed messages between Mandelson and ministers exchanging advice and news, as well as criticism of the No 10 operation, Labour MPs and the prime minister himself. The first batch was published in March.
Mandelson was sacked in September 2025 after Downing Street said new information about the depth of his relationship with Epstein had emerged. Starmer’s decision came after he reviewed emails showing Mandelson sent supportive messages to Epstein as he faced charges for sex offenses in 2008. The Metropolitan Police is investigating Mandelson over allegations of misconduct in public office. Mandelson has denied wrongdoing.
Some documents have been withheld at the request of the Metropolitan Police. Conservative shadow Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart said MPs should be told more about what the police investigation covers, including the number of documents related to Mandelson, the prime minister and others.
Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh questioned why Starmer used an auto-delete function on his WhatsApp messages, saying “these scandals are made much worse by any hint of a cover-up.” Starmer has said he handed over all the “messages I hold” and has “complied” with the process. Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told the Commons he “completely rejects the idea of a cover-up.”