The former victims minister has accused the government of reducing Jeffrey Epstein's survivors to a 'footnote' in the row over Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador — as she read out a plea from a woman who said the prime minister has ignored her repeated requests for a meeting.
Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones, who resigned as a justice minister in May, told the House of Commons that what struck her most 'about this whole affair is not what has been said but what has been missing'.
“Former victims minister Alex Davies-Jones says Epstein survivors are treated as a footnote in the Mandelson row.”
'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,' she said. 'Perhaps the most revealing aspect of these disclosures is not simply who ministers were meeting but who they were not.'
Davies-Jones read out a statement from Lisa Phillips, a US survivor of Epstein, who accused Sir Keir Starmer of ignoring her calls for a meeting. Phillips said she 'struggles to understand' why the prime minister appointed Lord Mandelson 'when his association with Epstein had long been publicly known'.
'I have repeatedly requested the opportunity to meet with the prime minister but those requests have all been ignored,' Phillips said. 'Must I now wait for the next prime minister to acknowledge me and my survivor sisters?'
Cabinet Office Minister Darren Jones offered to meet the victims and apologised for 'subconsciously' treating Lord Mandelson differently because of his power and influence within Labour.
The exchanges came during a Commons debate about the government's response to a motion forcing it to publish files related to Lord Mandelson's appointment. The peer was sacked in September 2025 after Downing Street said new information about the depth of his relationship with Epstein had emerged.
Sir Keir's decision came after he reviewed emails that showed Lord Mandelson sent supportive messages to Epstein as he faced charges for sex offences in 2008.
Davies-Jones said that while it appears 'significant effort' went into 'cultivating relationships with influential figures in the tech world, victims were left feeling unheard and overlooked'. She added she was 'forced to fight tooth and nail' while in government to have the voices of victims heard, which led to her 'difficult but necessary decision to resign'.
Phillips, who has called for a public inquiry, now waits for an answer.