The prime minister is facing a direct plea from a former victims minister to meet survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse – a warning that they risk being forgotten as Westminster’s attention turns to the latest tranche of files relating to Peter Mandelson.
Alex Davies-Jones, who served as victims minister until July, urged Sir Keir Starmer to sit down with those who suffered at the hands of the late financier. Her intervention came as MPs prepared to debate fresh evidence linking the disgraced former ambassador to the US to attempts to influence a Cabinet reshuffle.
“Alex Davies-Jones urges Starmer to meet Epstein survivors as Mandelson files risk overshadowing their plight.”
Messages between Mandelson and Sir Keir’s one-time chief of staff Morgan McSweeney were expected to be released, according to the Daily Mail. The communications are said to detail efforts by Mandelson to secure more political influence for his allies inside the reshuffle – a move that could lead the Metropolitan Police to widen their investigation.
Davies-Jones told Sky News that the Epstein survivors must not be overlooked. “They have waited years for justice and recognition,” she said. “The prime minister meeting them would send a powerful signal that their voices matter.”
The former minister’s appeal lands at a delicate moment for the government. While the Mandelson files dominate the parliamentary agenda, there is growing unease that the Epstein scandal is fading from public view. The financier died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, but his network of powerful associates continues to face scrutiny.
No date has been set for a meeting between Starmer and the survivors, and Downing Street has not commented on the request. But with the Metropolitan Police potentially examining new evidence in the Mandelson case, the pressure on the prime minister to act – on both fronts – is mounting.