Starmer ‘taking responsibility’, minister insists as PM set to face mutinous MPs

Sir Keir Starmer is “taking responsibility” for appointing Lord Peter Mandelson, a minister has insisted as the Prime Minister is set to face mutinous Labour MPs amid a fight for his political survival.

Skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith defended Sir Keir in a Monday morning media round after the resignation of top Starmer aide Morgan McSweeney over the Mandelson scandal.

The Prime Minister is later expected to address a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) amid anger over his appointment of the peer as ambassador to the US despite knowing that his links with Jeffrey Epstein continued after the financier’s conviction for child sex offences.

Mr McSweeney quit as Sir Keir’s chief of staff on Sunday, saying he was taking “full responsibility” for giving the Prime Minister advice that resulted in the “wrong” appointment.

But scrutiny of Sir Keir’s own judgment is mounting as critics, including some of his MPs, have highlighted that he made the final decision.

Labour veteran Baroness Smith rejected reports that Sir Keir is considering resigning and said he is “determined” to continue with his agenda for change.

She told Times Radio: “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.”

Though she said it was Mr McSweeney’s decision to resign, she said he and Sir Keir agreed together it was the “right thing to do”.

But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir was allowing his former chief of staff 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…”

She said Sir Keir had promised a Government that would be “whiter than white” and that his position is now “untenable”.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney told BBC Radio Scotland: “Although Morgan McSweeney might have resigned, the person that took the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was the Prime Minister and his position is a demonstration of his complete weakness as Prime Minister in the aftermath of this terrible decision.”

The pressure on his premiership looks unlikely to ease as the Government prepares for the lengthy process of releasing tens of thousands of emails, messages and documents relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment.

Sir Keir believes the files will prove the former Labour grandee lied about the extent of his ties to the notorious paedophile during his vetting.

The Guardian, citing a well-placed source, said they would show the Cabinet Office had warned about the grave reputational risk of handing Lord Mandelson the ambassadorship.

Sir Keir and Mr McSweeney, blamed by many for pushing for his ally Lord Mandelson to get the coveted ambassadorship, mutually came to the decision that it was the right moment to move on, it is understood.

The Prime Minister credited his longtime adviser’s “dedication, loyalty and leadership” for Labour’s 2024 general election win and said he owed him a “debt of gratitude” in a statement that did not mention the Lord Mandelson fiasco.

Mr McSweeney’s deputies, Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, have been appointed joint acting chiefs of staff.

Dame Emily Thornberry insisted Sir Keir is a “good leader” but said he must “step up a bit more than he has” to ensure clear leadership.

The senior Labour MP told the Today programme: “On the one hand, as a party, we need to be pretty united. Right from the leaflet deliverer to the Cabinet member, we need to be united and we need to know where we’re going and we need to stick together.

“But we do need to have a clear leadership, and that’s his challenge, so we reset and he needs to reset as well.”

Labour MP for York Central Rachael Maskell told the Press Association that Mr McSweeney’s departure was “a start” but that Sir Keir had to “turn away from the factionalism” engendered by his former aide.

“If he hasn’t understood the seriousness of the situation, then I think he will find it very difficult to continue,” she told BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour.

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 unnamed Cabinet ministers were quoted by The Times as saying Sir Keir was “weaker” and “could stand down at any moment”, a claim No 10 said 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”.

Downing Street remained defiant, insisting the Government’s policy agenda and commitment to its economic strategy had not changed.

Sir Keir is also expected to speak to the women’s PLP after Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday and make on-camera interventions this week.

He and Mr McSweeney have pinned blame on vetting by the security services for failing to disprove Lord Mandelson’s claims that he barely knew the late financier, which were later dramatically debunked by disclosures in the so-called Epstein files.

Officials have been tasked with examining that process as a priority.