A government minister and key ally of Sir Keir Starmer told Peter Mandelson he was “so sorry” after he was sacked as US ambassador over his ties to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Leaked messages between Darren Jones and the former Labour peer – which were not published in this week’s second tranche of documents on Lord Mandelson’s appointment – show the minister complaining about cabinet colleagues and asking for career advice.
The chief secretary to the prime minister told the Commons this week he was unable to hand over his exchanges with Lord Mandelson for publication as he had failed to save them on his phone.
But messages leaked to The Spectator reveal that Mr Jones consoled Lord Mandelson on the day he was sacked from his Washington post, telling him: “You’ve been doing such a great job and you worked wonders with Trump. I’m so sorry about today.”
Lord Mandelson was sacked after new details of his relationship with Epstein came to light in a tranche of the so-called Epstein files released by the US government.
The prime minister has repeatedly apologised for the appointment, which has raised serious questions about his judgement and the government’s vetting process.
When asked on Thursday how she felt about Mr Jones’s leaked message, the chief secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, told Sky News: “Not great is the honest answer.” She also told Times Radio that she “wouldn’t have used those words”.
But Downing Street insisted Sir Keir still had confidence in Mr Jones, and when asked whether the prime minister thought the messages were appropriate, a spokeswoman said: “I think you have the prime minister’s view, and have had it repeatedly on this, and that is that he regrets appointing Peter Mandelson, and he is sorry to the victims who have suffered the unimaginable trauma that they have, and that couldn’t have been clearer throughout the last few months.”
Mr Jones also criticised government colleagues in messages to the disgraced peer, telling him “it doesn’t fill you with confidence” that growth plans were in the hands of chancellor Rachel Reeves, then-deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and the former business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
But Ms Rigby said it would be wrong to “put too much emphasis on one message”, telling LBC it was “intended to be a private message”.
“We’ve all felt frustrations in our working life at some point and sent a message to a colleague or family member where we deliberately exaggerate our feelings or otherwise,” she said. “So I really wouldn’t put too much emphasis on it at all.”
Mr Jones also criticised Mr Reynolds’ special advisers, telling Lord Mandelson: “I lost faith in his spads when, on a call about Port Talbot, they repeatedly took a different position to us in HMT [the Treasury] ‘because that’s what the unions want’.”
He also asked Lord Mandelson his “thoughts/advice” on a suspected cabinet reshuffle, and told him he would prefer: “DBT [Business and Trade], DSIT [Science, Innovation and Technology] or DESNZ [Energy Security and Net Zero] in that order. I also like MoD but think that’s unlikely.”
Mr Jones suggested on Wednesday in the Commons that his messages were not published because he did not save them, and Lord Mandelson had refused to comply with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s humble address requesting disclosure of information related to his appointment as US ambassador.
“What I confirmed on Monday was that I have had WhatsApp exchanges with Peter Mandelson, but I have not saved them on my devices to be able to share with my principal private secretary,” he said. “The only person who could release those messages, if they have them, would be Peter Mandelson, who has refused to disclose his phone to the process.”
Mr Jones also admitted that he treated Lord Mandelson differently because he “believed him to have influence and power within the Labour Party”, and that he in part “benefited from that relationship in the time I have been an elected politician”.
The Conservative Party has accused the government of failing to adhere to the humble address, instructing them to release all documents related to Peter Mandelson’s appointment and are “looking at any possible route” to get them to “comply in full”.
Asked if they believed the government had complied in full with the humble address, Ms Badenoch’s spokesperson said: “Quite frankly, no.” He added: “We are looking at any route we can to get the government to comply in full with the terms of the humble address.”
