{"id":617534,"date":"2026-06-02T19:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T19:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/617534\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T19:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T19:14:09","slug":"labour-not-looking-to-raise-taxes-to-fund-benefits-as-mandelson-messages-suggest-welfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/617534\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour \u2018not looking to raise taxes to fund benefits\u2019 as Mandelson messages suggest | Welfare"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labour MPs are not looking to raise taxes to fund more benefits, the Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds<\/a> has said.<\/p>\n

In messages between the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, and Peter Mandelson<\/a> released on Monday, McFadden wrote: \u201cEvery meeting I have is: \u2018Who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others?\u2019 They\u2019re asking the wrong questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pat McFadden arriving for a cabinet meeting in Downing Street on Tuesday. Photograph: James Manning\/PA<\/p>\n

The private WhatsApps were shared as part of a tranche of information relating to Mandelson\u2019s appointment as the UK ambassador to the US \u2013 from which he was subsequently sacked \u2013 including texts with ministers and senior officials.<\/p>\n

Thomas-Symonds said the messages were \u201cembarrassing\u201d but were in the public domain because of the government\u2019s commitment to comply with the humble address motion passed by MPs in February to release all relevant information.<\/p>\n

He confirmed he had not released his own messages because his phone had been stolen, but said he had verbally described his messages with Mandelson to the Cabinet Office.<\/p>\n

Asked about McFadden\u2019s comments, he said it was not his experience that Labour<\/a> MPs were demanding tax rises to pay for benefits, and said McFadden was committed to helping people find opportunities for work rather than a life on welfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, they are embarrassing, I\u2019m not hiding from that, but the reason they\u2019re in the public domain is because of the government\u2019s desire to comply with the humble address,\u201d he told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp messages between Pat McFadden and Peter Mandelson. Photograph: Cabinet Office\/PA<\/p>\n

\u201c[McFadden\u2019s] view has always been about an emphasis not on the benefits side, but an emphasis on giving people opportunities, and that\u2019s what you\u2019ve seen over the last week,\u201d he added, referring to the recent report by the former health secretary Alan Milburn<\/a> on tackling youth unemployment.<\/p>\n

\"What\u2019sWhat\u2019s missing from \u2018embarrassing\u2019 Mandelson files? \u2013 The Latest<\/p>\n

Asked about the culture in the parliamentary party of demanding more spending on benefits, Thomas-Symonds said it was \u201cnot my experience, obviously Pat is talking there about meetings he\u2019s been in. It\u2019s not my experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI don\u2019t accept that Labour MPs, all of us together, are not determined to tackle the scourge of youth unemployment \u2026 in that work we are absolutely united as a parliamentary party.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the welfare bill was rising because of the increase in the state pension and the government\u2019s commitment to the triple lock. \u201cI am proud that we are doing that, looking after pensioners up and down the country,\u201d Thomas-Symonds said.<\/p>\n

The minister said he was not surprised to see so many congratulatory messages to Mandelson after his appointment. He said he had been unaware of the extent of his friendship with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein until files had been released by the US Department of Justice last year, resulting in Mandelson\u2019s sacking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no idea about the depth and the darkness of the relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein,\u201d he said. \u201cI was shocked, absolutely shocked, last September when that came to light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas-Symonds said there were messages on his stolen phone congratulating Mandelson on his appointment. \u201cI lost significant amounts of data, not just WhatsApp, but personal photographs as well. This was my personal phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the lost messages included \u201ccongratulations about my appointment, [Mandelson\u2019s] subsequent appointment. There would have been an exchange when he was campaigning to be the chancellor of the University of Oxford. So I\u2019ve always been someone in favour of transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labour MPs are not looking to raise taxes to fund more benefits, the Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-617534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}