PA MediaAlex Davies-Jones resigned as a justice minister in MayThe former victims minister has accused the government of failing to listen to the survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones, who resigned in May, said victims have been treated as a "footnote" in the row over Lord Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the US.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Davies-Jones also read out a statement from Lisa Phillips, a US survivor of Epstein, who accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of ignoring her requests for a meeting.
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.
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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 what struck her most "about this whole affair is 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 and that should concern every single one of us.
"Perhaps the most revealing aspect of these disclosures is not simply who ministers were meeting but who they were not."
Davies-Jones said while it appears that "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 the government to have the voices of victims heard, adding this showed "something is not working as it should" and led to her "difficult but necessary decision to resign".
Davies-Jones also said she had been asked by Phillips, a former model who has spoken out about her experiences as a survivor of Epstein, to read out a statement on her behalf.
MPs heard Phillips "struggles to understand" why Sir Keir appointed Lord Mandelson "when his association with Epstein had long been publicly known".
Phillips, who has called for a public inquiry, added: "I have repeatedly requested the opportunity to meet with the prime minister but those requests have all been ignored.
"Must I now wait for the next prime minister to acknowledge me and my survivor sisters?"
For the government, Jones said the speech from his Labour colleague Davies-Jones had left him asking questions about his relationship with Lord Mandelson.
The chief secretary to the prime minister said no warnings about Lord Mandelson were put to him and he did not believe he had consciously ignored stories about the peer.
Jones said: "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.
"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."
Jones said he had heard the request from his Labour colleague for a meeting with the victims and he would make himself "available for that meeting to discuss the issues she has raised".
Carl Court/PALord Mandelson and Sir Keir Starmer during a reception at the ambassador's residence in Washington, DC in February 2025The first batch of Mandelson files were published in March and more than 1,000 pages of documents were released on Monday.
They showed messages between Lord Mandelson and ministers, exchanging advice and news - as well as criticism of the No 10 operation, Labour MPs and the prime minister himself.
Some documents have been held back at the request of the Metropolitan Police, who are investigating the peer over allegations of misconduct in public office.
Lord Mandelson has denied wrongdoing.
Conservative shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said MPs should be told "a bit more about what the police have", including the number of documents related to Lord Mandelson, the PM and others.
The Conservatives have also accused the government of failing to publish all the documents related to Lord Mandelson's appointment - because of the lack of a record of when the PM actually made the decision to give him the job.
Ministers have defended the government's publications of documents.
At one point in the debate, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said he "completely rejects the idea of a cover-up" after he was pressed over Sir Keir's use of the auto-delete function on his WhatsApp messages.
There were only a few texts from the PM In the latest Mandelson documents, with Sir Keir saying he had handed over all the "messages I hold" and had "complied" with the process.
The disappearing message tool allows WhatsApp users to set a time limit of 24 hours, seven days or 90 days, after which their texts are deleted.
Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh questioned why the PM used the auto-delete function, adding "these scandals are made much worse by any hint of a cover-up".
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