‘Don’t feel great’: Treasury minister irked by Darren Jones and Mandelson texts
Treasury minister Lucy Rigby has appeared to criticise her fellow Cabinet colleague Darren Jones over texts he reportedly sent to Lord Peter Mandelson on the day he was sacked as ambassador to the US.
Rigby, who currently holds Jones’ former role as chief secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News that she was unsettled by messages that appeared to show Sir Keir Starmer’s ally sending Mandelson words of support after his sacking last November, and criticising cabinet colleagues including chancellor Rachel Reeves.
She told Sky News that Jones had “been clear” that he had treated Mandelson differently due to his “influence and power within the Labour Party” and that he had benefitted from the relationship, before apologising to MPs for his conduct.
Rigby said: “You ask me how I feel about that. Not great is the honest answer.”
Jones’ messages to Mandelson were reported in The Spectator magazine despite not being included in transparency documents covering all of the former US ambassador’s exchanges with ministers and civil servants.
The chief secretary to the prime minister said he no longer had access to messages he sent to Mandelson and therefore could not hand them into civil servants overseeing a motion to disclose exchanges between Mandelson.
He said during a parliamentary debate on Wednesday: “There were no messages [on this phone] to consider and that was different [to] what I confirmed on Monday was that I have had WhatsApp exchanges with Peter Mandelson but I haven’t saved them on my devices to be able to share.”
Jones was ‘so sorry’ for Mandelson sacking
The messages, leaked to the magazine, appeared to show Jones telling Mandelson he was “so sorry” for his dismissal after a Bloomberg report showed that the former US ambassador had shared a closer relationship with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein than previously thought.
Jones told Mandelson on the day of the sacking: “You’ve been doing such a great job and you worked wonders with Trump. I’m so sorry about today.”
In another message, he claimed that Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and former business secretary Jonathan Reynolds were responsible for growth policy, adding that this “doesn’t fill you with confidence”.
He also said Reynolds’ advisers were in conflict with the Treasury due to demands made by unions when ministers were tasked with taking a decision on Port Talbot, the plant that shut down its steelmaking capabilities in late 2024.
Jones also asked Mandelson about the jobs he could take on in a potential government reshuffle as he admitted he wanted to become business secretary, technology secretary or energy secretary “in that order”.
Rigby said in another broadcast interview that Jones was “letting off steam” when he made the remarks.
“There is an extent to which, and I think we all do need to bear this in mind, frankly, who hasn’t come out of a work meeting at some point and sent a message to a colleague or a family member or whatever, sort of, you know, letting off steam, letting off a bit of frustration,” she told Times Radio.