Keir Starmer faces a crisis after the Commons Speaker granted an emergency debate on the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to America. The event will take place on September 16 – the same day that US President Donald Trump arrives in the UK for his state visit.
The debate was secured by the Conservatives. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “There are too many unanswered questions around Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador. No10’s story keeps changing, meanwhile the public have a right to know the truth about what the Prime Minister and his Chief of Staff knew and when.” A Government Minister will have to respond during the debate, although Sir Keir is likely to stay away.
But the Prime Minister has admitted he was aware of “questions” about Peter Mandelson’s friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when he defended the former ambassador in Parliament last week. Sir Keir said he would never have appointed Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US “had I known then what I know now. Meanwhile, insiders fear Sir Keir could face a “no confidence” vote from his own MPs if Labour is wiped out in May’s Sottish, Welsh and council elections.
And Number Ten faced further turmoil last night with the resignation of another senior official. Paul Ovenden quit as Director of Strategy over emails from 2017 which included sexually explicit remarks about Labour MP Diane Abbott.
Sir Keir told the House of Commons he had confidence in Lord Mandelson during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) last Wednesday. However, it has emerged the Foreign Office was told on Tuesday about emails in which Lord Mandelson urged Epstein to “fight for early release”, as the US financier faced a prison sentence in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Last night the Prime Minister insisted he had not known about “the content of the emails”, uncovered by news service Bloomberg, until Wednesday evening. But he admitted in a broadcast interview: “What I knew before Prime Minister’s Questions was that there had been media enquiries. I didn’t know the content of the Bloomberg emails, and I knew that questions had been put to Peter that he had not yet answered, and he hadn’t answered them by the time I got to PMQs, there is, of course, a time lag in America, but I knew that there were questions that have been put to him, but I didn’t know what answers he was going to give to those questions.”
Conservatives have demanded Sir Keir publish all documents relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment, including details of vetting by the Cabinet Office and Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff.
And Dame Emily Thornberry, Labour chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, revealed her committee had summoned Foreign Office mandarin Sir Olly Robbins to answer questions about the “vetting and security processes” leading to Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
Labour left-wingers have turned their fire on Sir Keir, with MP Richard Burgon, saying it was “inevitable” that Keir Starmer “will be gone” if Labour suffers major losses in May’s votes.
MP Andy McDonald, also on the left, said “morale is very low” and an urgent change of course from the leadership is needed, adding: “The Prime Minister’s future is in his own hands.”
But figures in the centre of the party also believe the Prime Minister could suffer the same fate as ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn, who lost a vote of no confidence by Labour MPs. Mr Corbyn survived because Labour activists then voted to keep him as leader, but Sir Keir is thought unlikely to receive the same support.
A source said: “It’s actually quite easy to remove a Labour leader. You just hold a vote of no confidence, as we saw with Jeremy Corbyn.
“The difference is that Corbyn was able to appeal to the membership, but that’s not an option for Starmer.”
They added: “I do think there is something going on. There is a distinct possibility of a challenge to Keir. The Budget and May’s local elections will be key.”
Mr Ovenden, a former journalist, is the latest official to quit Number 10 after former Chief of Staff Sue Gray left earlier in the year and James Lyons quit as Director of Strategic Communications this month.
Downing Street described Mr Ovenden’s comments about Ms Abbott as “appalling and unacceptable”. A Number Ten spokesperson said: “As the first black woman to be elected to Parliament, Diane Abbott is a trailblazer who has faced horrendous abuse throughout her political career.
“These kinds of comments have no place in our politics.”
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, seen as a likely candidate to replace Sir Keir as Labour leader, will be in the spotlight at Labour’s conference in Liverpool starting September 28, where he is to speak in a series of fringe events. He will also appear on a fringe panel at the Conservative gathering in Manchester.
An ally of Mr Burnham denied he is laying the foundations for a future leadership bid, calling the rumours “pure speculation with no substance”.
The Mayor, a former Health Secretary, would first need to return to Parliament as an MP, but Skills Minister Jacqui Smith suggested he should stick to his current job. She said: ““Of course Andy isn’t in Parliament, he’s doing a really good job as Mayor of Greater Manchester and actually when I talk to Andy what we tend to talk about is how can we make sure young people are getting the skills they need in Manchester.”
Asked how awkward recent events had been for the Government as it prepares for Donald Trump’s state visit, Lady Smith said: “What we’ll want to focus on this week is welcoming Donald Trump to the country and thinking about the way in which our incredibly important partnership with the US will enable us to build on British interests.”
Sir Keir is hoping to use Mr Trump’s visit, formally hosted by the King, to announce new trade opportunities with the US and shift the spotlight away from his problems.
Backbench MPs to have attacked him in recent days include left-winger Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South, who said he “doesn’t seem up to the job”. Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Middleton South, said the Prime Minister is “supping in the last-chance saloon.”