The secret texts embarrassing Cabinet ministers – and there’s more

Cabinet ministers are braced for further embarrassing texts sent to Peter Mandelson to leak amid fears he wants to settle scores, The i Paper understands.

It comes after messages that were not disclosed in the second tranche of the documents between senior minister Darren Jones and the former UK ambassador to the US emerged on Thursday.

The exchanges piled pressure on the Prime Minister’s chief secretary, as they revealed he sent praise to Mandelson after he was sacked and discussed how he could get promoted within Government.

Sources familiar with some of the exchanges claim further messages could be exposed by Mandelson’s allies, including one from Jonathan Reynolds, the current chief whip, where he is alleged to have told the peer that he would like to become Chancellor.

A source close to Reynolds said he does not “recollect” the reported exchange.

Jones is understood to have been warned in advance that damaging exchanges between himself and Mandelson were being leaked to the media.

One Labour insider said: “He [Mandelson] is out to get him [Jones].”

“They [Cabinet ministers] were all cosying up to him [Mandelson] but Darren was the worst and kept wanting to know what jobs he [Mandelson] was recommending him for,” the source added.

Mandelson has told allies he is furious with Jones and believes the minister is attempting to “smear” him as a sex pest and a national security risk.

More than 1,500 pages of documents relating to Government communications with Mandelson were published on Monday afternoon after the Tories forced a parliamentary motion to have them released.

But questions have been raised by MPs over missing documents – some of which have been withheld because of a police investigation into Mandelson for misconduct in public office and others that were not included because ministers used the ‘disappearing’ messages function on Whatsapp or changed devices. The i Paper understands that No 10 is insistent that all ministers have complied with the terms of the motion.

Jones’s exchanges with Mandelson were not published because it is understood that he replaced his phone after he left the Treasury to begin his role at the Cabinet Office and took over responsibility for cybersecurity.

In a pointed comment on Wednesday night as he addressed MPs in the Commons, Jones said that only Mandelson would be able to disclose any messages between the two of them.

“The only person who could release those messages, if they had them, would be Peter Mandelson, who has refused to disclose his phone to the process,” he said.

Mandelson, who was sacked last September because of revelations about his close friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, declined to hand over his personal messages.

Texts leaked to The Spectator revealed that Jones had sent his commiserations to the disgraced peer on the day he was sacked as US ambassador.

Jones’s messages also included requests for advice on any Cabinet reshuffle and critical remarks about Reynolds, the then business secretary, and the influence of trade unions.

In the messages, Jones wrote to Mandelson: “You’ve been doing such a great job, and you worked wonders with Trump. I’m so sorry about today.”

In a previous message, Jones, then chief secretary to the Treasury under Rachel Reeves, told Mandelson that it did not “fill you with confidence” that Reynolds and the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner were in charge of the government’s growth plans along with the Chancellor.

Jones also reportedly said he had “lost faith” in Reynolds’ advisers “when, on a call about [the steelmaking industry in] Port Talbot, they repeatedly took a different position to us in HMT [The Treasury] ‘because that’s what the unions want’.”

According to the report, Jones also requested “thoughts/advice” about a proposed reshuffle and said he hoped to be appointed business secretary, technology secretary or energy secretary. He also said: “I also like MoD but think that’s unlikely.” “DBT [Department for Business and Trade] my preference – everyone fond of Jonny but perception that DBT not firing on full cylinders,” Jones wrote.

Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Jones said he wanted to apologise to MPs and to Epstein’s victims for the fact that he believed he personally had benefited from knowing Mandelson.

“I want to take the opportunity to ask myself questions about my relationship with Peter Mandelson,” Jones said.

While he said he did not ignore concerns about Mandelson’s appointment – because none were raised – he said he had acted a certain way around Mandelson because he perceived him to be influential.

Jones said: “Did I at best treat Peter Mandelson differently because I perceived him to have influence and power in the Labour party? I think the answer to that is yes, I did. Have I benefited from that relationship? I think in part the answer to that is yes. And for that I would like to apologise to the house, the victims… and commit to doing something about it.”

He added that he would like to meet victims of Epstein, “if that were appropriate”.