Missing Mandelson messages from minister Darren Jones revealed

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Missing Mandelson messages from minister Darren Jones revealed13 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleJennifer McKiernanPolitical reporterHouse of CommonsChief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren JonesMessages between senior minister Darren Jones and Peter Mandelson have come to light, with the pair criticising Jones's cabinet colleagues. The chats were expected to appear in the batch of Mandelson files, published earlier this week following MPs' vote to disclose documents relating to the disgraced peer's appointment as UK ambassador to the US. Lord Mandelson was sacked from that role when the depth of his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein became apparent.

Conversations between Jones and Lord Mandelson did not appear in the 1,500 pages of documents published on Monday, but some messages have been published in the Spectator. Five questions left unanswered by the Mandelson filesMinisters braced for private texts and WhatsApps in Mandelson file releaseMandelson files: What you need to knowThey include messages from Jones praising Lord Mandelson after he was sacked and discussing avenues for promotion within government. On the day Sir Keir Starmer dismissed Lord Mandelson from his ambassadorial role, Jones wrote: "You've been doing such a great job, and you worked wonders with Trump.

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I'm so sorry about today. "Messages show Lord Mandelson criticised the government's plans for growth, telling Jones the plans were in the hands of Chancellor Rachel Reeves, then-deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, and then-business secretary Jonathan Reynolds. Jones, who at that point was Reeves' number two, replied: "It doesn't fill you with confidence.

"In another exchange about Reynolds' special advisers and industrial policy advisers, Jones said: "I lost faith in his spads when, on a call about Port Talbot, they repeatedly took a different position to us in HMT 'because that's what the unions want'. "Jones also sought Lord Mandelson's advice on promotion during last year's Cabinet reshuffle, sparked by Rayner's resignation as deputy prime minister and housing secretary over a tax row about unpaid stamp duty. Talking about his ambitions, Jones said his first preference was a role in the Department for Business and Trade, then headed by Reynolds but now led by Peter Kyle.

That was followed by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, then led by Kyle and now by Liz Kendall, or the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, led by Ed Miliband both before and after the reshuffle. Jones added: "I also like MoD but think that's unlikely.

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