Grim-faced ministers are maintaining a deafening silence about Keir Starmer‘s prospects of survival today after his closest ally quit over the Mandelson scandal.
The PM is holed up in Downing Street after the storm over the peer’s appointment as US ambassador claimed the scalp of Morgan McSweeney.
MPs are warning Sir Keir he must show he ‘gets’ the crisis and is ready to lurch to the Left when he addresses a highly-charged meeting of the Parliamentary Party this evening.
But No10 has been forced to deny speculation the premier could simply opt to walk away.
There has been a notable absence of any Cabinet figures rallying round the PM this morning, despite both Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Darren Jones being pictured in Westminster. Baroness Jacqui Smith, a relatively junior minister, was put up for broadcast interviews.
Labour sources said Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden was ‘f***ed over’ yesterday when he was sent out on TV to defend Mr McSweeney hours before he resigned.
Sir Keir does not currently have any public engagements planned for today, with No10 quashing rumours of a speech to the nation.
Bizarrely a British Airways flight simulator had been installed outside No10 this morning, sparking jokes that the PM might be looking for a getaway.
As UK politics plunges into turmoil again today:
- The interest rate on 10-year gilts – a main way the government borrows money – was up nearly four basis points as investors fear chaos;
- Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald and national security adviser Jonathan Powell remain under intense pressure over the Mandelson appointment;
- Police have yet to sign off release of documents about Mandelson’s vetting process, to the frustration of Downing Street;
- Sir Keir is scrambling for a new chief of staff after McSweeney’s exit, with claims his biographer Tom Baldwin has been angling for the job.
Keir Starmer is holed up in Downing Street after the storm over the peer’s appointment as US ambassador claimed the scalp of Morgan McSweeney (pictured together)
Yvette Cooper and Darren Jones were both pictured in Downing Street today – but have said nothing about the PM’s plight
Bizarrely a British Airways flight simulator had been installed outside No10 this morning, sparking jokes about whether Sir Keir was planning a getaway
Skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith was sent out to put the PM’s case on broadcast, insisting he is not on the verge of quitting. However, she conceded that she had not even spoken to Sir Keir personally.
Yesterday Mr McSweeney said he took ‘full responsibility’ for the decision to send the disgraced peer to Washington, despite knowing he had stood by Jeffrey Epstein after the depraved financier was jailed for child-sex offences.
Downing Street said the PM and Mr McSweeney had jointly decided it was the ‘right moment’ for him to go.
Sir Keir has the advantage that rivals including Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham do not appear to be in position to challenge for the leadership.
Ms Rayner has also previously insisted an election must be called when governing parties switch leaders mid-term.
No10 has been circulating messages to normally-loyal MPs pleading for them to speak up in support of the leader at the PLP session this evening.
But many are openly speculating about how long Sir Keir can continue without the man who masterminded his rise to power and who was seen as ‘the PM’s brain’.
Sir Keir previously considered quitting as Opposition leader after Labour lost the Hartlepool by-election, at the height of Boris Johnson’s popularity.
Lady Smith rejected the idea that Sir Keir is thinking of resigning, saying he is ‘determined’ to continue with his agenda for change.
She told Times Radio: ‘No, I think that the Prime Minister absolutely is determined to. He’s determined and has taken responsibility for the mistakes made in appointing Peter Mandelson.
‘He’s apologised to Epstein’s victims, and he’s determined now to put right a system that enabled this to happen.’
She insisted Sir Keir is taking responsibility when put to her that Mr McSweeney was the one taking responsibility.
‘The Prime Minister is taking responsibility. He took responsibility for the decision that was made about Peter Mandelson, although, to be clear here it was, of course, Peter Mandelson that in consistent lying and engagement with Jeffrey Epstein let down the party and the Government and the country.
‘And I think that will become clearer as the information around the appointment is put out into the public domain.’
Mr McSweeney’s deputies, Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, have been appointed joint acting chiefs of staff.
Some insiders expect that the ‘smart and capable’ pair will be made permanent.
However, Mr Baldwin – a former comms chief to Ed Miliband known to be close to the PM – is also said to be in the frame. One Labour veteran said that Sir Keir was ‘weirdly in thrall’ to Mr Baldwin.
Another option to stabilise the ship could be Baroness Louise Casey, although she is already tasked with the grooming gangs inquiry and a review of social care funding.
Meanwhile, frantic work is continuing on the documents about Mandelson’s vetting and ties to senior Labour figures.
Sir Keir was forced to commit to releasing a swathe of material last week following a revolt by MPs last week. He has insisted that the details can show that he was misled by Mandelson during the process, and there was a failure in the process.
But Scotland Yard has raised concerns about publishing information when there is a criminal inquiry ongoing.
Sir Keir’s allies are gloomy about the chances of police giving approval today, with one gloomily fearing that when they do give approval it will come at ‘the worst moment’.
Left-wingers are calling for the PM to resign, with former campaigns chief Jon Trickett warning: ‘The buck stops at the top.’
Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, added: ‘There must be a change in political direction and that comes from the very top.
‘So the Prime Minister must look at his own position and question whether he should follow McSweeney’s lead one last time, and resign for the good of the country and the Labour Party.’
Liverpool MP Kim Johnson said the PM’s position was ‘untenable’, while York MP Rachael Maskell described Mr McSweeney’s departure as ‘a start’.
Ms Maskell told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour: ‘If he hasn’t understood the seriousness of the situation, then I think he will find it very difficult to continue,’ she told .
Other Labour MPs on the left of the party, including Brian Leishman, Ian Byrne and Kim Johnson, suggested Sir Keir should consider following Mr McSweeney out the door.
Two Cabinet told The Times Sir Keir was ‘weaker’ and ‘could stand down at any moment’ – although No10 said that was ‘categorically untrue’.
Union chiefs also heaped pressure on the Labour leader, with Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright saying he should resign.
Maryam Eslamdoust, the general secretary of the Labour-affiliated Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, told The Telegraph: ‘There’s no case for waiting until May, given the scale of defeat we are facing at these critical elections. It’s time to elect a new leader.’
But Starmer ally John Slinger said ‘the last thing the country needs is leadership speculations’, while Labour grandee Lord Blunkett warned against ‘a party acting like ferrets in a sack’.
Labour sources said Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden was ‘f***ed over’ yesterday when he was sent out on TV to defend Mr McSweeney hours before he resigned
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir Starmer is allowing former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney to ‘carry the can’ for a decision he chose to make.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘(Claiming) ‘I was badly advised’ is not a good excuse for a leader. Advisers advise, leaders decide. He made a bad decision, he should take responsibility for that… this man said that he was the chief prosecutor for the country, when did he start believing everything that people told him?
‘Peter Mandelson had been sacked twice for unethical behaviour. He is allowing someone else to carry the can for a decision that he chose to make. But the real problem is that this country is not being governed.’
She added: ‘Keir Starmer promised a Government that would be whiter than white. His position now is untenable, because if he thinks that bad advice is enough for Morgan McSweeney to go, then, yes, I think that makes his position untenable.’
