Starmer will address MPs on Monday (Image: Getty)
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will address Labour MPs tomorrow as he battles to cling onto his premiership. The Labour leader has convened a meeting with the parliamentary party following the resignation of his Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney, in the wake of the Peter Mandelson scandal.
McSweeney played a crucial role in Starmer’s election as Labour leader and plotted a route back to power for the party after 14 years. However, in recent months, he became a divisive figure within the parliamentary party, and his position became untenable after new revelations about the relationship between former US Ambassador Peter Mandelson, somebody championed by McSweeney for the role in Washington, and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein came to light.
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McSweeney was influential in the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador (Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
In a statement announcing his resignation, McSweeney took responsibility for the decision to appoint Mandelson to be the UK’s representative in the United States.
He said: “After careful reflection, I have decided to resign from the Government. The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself.
“When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment, and I take full responsibility for that advice. In public life, responsibility must be owned when it matters most, not just when it is most convenient. In the circumstances, the only honourable course is to step aside.”
The tone of the address remains unclear, even among MPs, with opinion split over whether Starmer should follow suit and step down as prime minister.
One Labour MP told the Daily Express that Keir Starmer was “probably a dead man walking”.
Long-term Starmer critic Brian Leishman, who briefly had the Labour whip removed last year for “persistent k***headery”, advised the PM that he should consider following McSweeney out the door.
Starmer will address MPs as he attempts to cling onto his position (Image: Getty)
He told the Press Association: “Morgan McSweeney’s resignation as chief of staff to the Prime Minister is in the best interests of the Government. He was at the heart of the political misjudgements and errors that have been made since winning the general election.
“It is also in the best interests of the Labour Party, as he was instrumental in the lack of internal democracy and the culture of intense factionalism we are suffering from.
“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.”
Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, who were Morgan McSweeney’s deputies, have been appointed Sir Keir Starmer’s joint acting chiefs of staff following Mr McSweeney’s departure, it has been widely reported.
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Ms Alakeson has responsibility for policy and delivery and has managed Downing Street’s external relationships.
Ms Cuthbertson has managed the Prime Minister’s diary and has been described as the ultimate gatekeeper to Sir Keir.
