Ex-minister Jess Phillips admits she pulled a sickie to avoid having to defend Peter Mandelson in the Commons

By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 14:21, 11 August 2026 | Updated: 14:22, 11 August 2026 Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has admitted pulling a sickie so she wouldn't have to defend Peter Mandelson in the House of Commons. The Labour MP, who quit her Government role earlier this year, revealed how she once pretended to be ill in order to avoid being quizzed about Britain's then-ambassador to the US. Ms Phillips described how she dodged answering Home Office questions in the Commons when the disgraced peer was still the UK's top diplomat in Washington DC.  'Mandelson hadn't yet been sacked, but we were in that sort of indeterminate week where the prime minister was giving him his full confidence,' she told LBC's Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. 'That week, it was Home Office questions and I didn't go. Because I said if anybody asks me a question about whether Mandelson was good at his job I would say no. So I said I was sick.' She added: 'Luckily, I then did [fall ill]. I think if I lie about being sick, I get sick.' Lord Mandelson was sacked by former prime minister Keir Starmer in September last year following fresh revelations about his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Ms Phillips has previously revealed she threatened to quit 'on a number of occasions' over the scandal before she eventually resigned from Sir Keir's administration. Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has admitted pulling a sickie so she wouldn't have to defend Peter Mandelson in the House of Commons. Lord Mandelson (pictured last week) was sacked by former PM Keir Starmer in September last year following fresh revelations about his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein Lord Mandelson formally took up the role of US ambassador in February 2025, shortly after Donald Trump began his second term in the White House, but lasted just seven months. Sir Keir's controversial appointment of the former Cabinet minister is widely viewed to have played a large part in his eventual downfall as PM.  Ms Phillips stood down as safeguarding minister in May with a scathing attack on Sir Keir's leadership. She said on Monday she was 'much, much, much happier not in government' without having to agree with the Government's line. 'I used to often say, the best you can expect from me on this is silence,' the Birmingham Yardley MP added. Ms Phillips said she had 'ruled herself out' being part of new PM Andy Burnham's Government. She also hinted she could stand down as an MP at the next general election, having previously described 'aggressive' and 'intimidatory' abuse during the 2024 campaign. 'I live a half life, and I would like to live a full life,' she said. 'I'm not going to be there for 30 years. The last election was awful. 'If it were to be like the election I faced last time, I wouldn't stand.'  Nimco Ali, a former government adviser on tackling violence against women and girls, criticised Ms Phillips over her admission she once dodged appearing in the Commons. 'This is incredible, and not in the way she seems to think it is. It isn't funny. Victims and survivors needed her,' she posted on X. 'I genuinely did not want to post this because I consider Jess a friend. But this is f****** bulls**t. 'When women needed their minister to show up and speak truth to power, she chose not to show up at all.'