The quote is accurately attributed. It comes from private WhatsApp messages between Pat McFadden and Lord Mandelson, which were published as part of the "Mandelson files" — documents the government was compelled to release following a Humble Address vote by MPs. At the time of the messages, McFadden was a Cabinet Office minister; he later became Work and Pensions Secretary. The messages were indeed private communications that McFadden acknowledged he did not expect to be published, telling GB News: "You write things in these messages, and I'm sure everybody does, that they probably, when they wrote them, didn't expect them to be published." The specific characterization — that Labour MPs were asking "who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others" and that this was "asking the wrong questions" — is a blunt, critical assessment of his own parliamentary party's instincts. The government has not publicly framed Labour MPs' priorities in these terms. Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds publicly distanced himself from the remark, saying it was "not my experience" that Labour MPs were advocating tax increases to fund benefits. McFadden's defense was not that he had said this specific thing publicly, but that the underlying philosophy — shifting from "what are you entitled to" to "how can we change your life" — was consistent with his public statements. He told City AM: "I don't think there's any surprise in those texts about my views on things." However, the specific candid characterization of Labour MPs as primarily focused on taxing to pay benefits is a private remark that the government has not echoed publicly. The quote was genuinely made in private messages, and the specific blunt framing of Labour MPs' priorities has not been publicly stated by the government. McFadden's defense was about the consistency of his underlying philosophy, not about having said this specific thing publicly. Sources: BBC News (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy2431r8xdo); LBC (https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/pat-mcfadden-welfare-tax-labour-keir-starmer-peter-mandelson-5HjdZzH_2/); City AM (https://www.cityam.com/pat-mcfadden-i-have-not-apologised-to-rachel-reeves-over-tax-to-pay-benefits-text/); GB News (https://www.gbnews.com/politics/pat-mcfadden-peter-mandelson-benefits-messages); InView (https://inview.org.uk/news/191381-labour_minister_rejects_claims_mps_want_higher_taxes_to_fund_welfare_after_leaked_mandelson_messages); BBC News (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgep3r9yg34o)