Keir Starmer is facing a furious Labour civil war as anger grows over the Peter Mandelson scandal. Relations between the Prime Minister and his MPs have sunk to a new low, with one Labour colleague warning there was growing “disdain” for the Prime Minister within the Parliamentary Party following a Cabinet reshuffle “that has left everybody unhappy”.
Another Labour MP said: “Everybody in the Commons asking whether Keir has the judgment to do this job, and he’s shown once again that he hasn’t.” Left-winger Clive Lewis said Sir Keir had “lost control” and “just doesn’t seem up to the job”, in a BBC interview.
The Prime Minister faces questions about how much he knew about Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein before the appointment was made, and about concerns reportedly raised by Britain’s security services.
Number 10 has accused Lord Mandelson of failing to reveal the full truth about his friendship with Epstein before he was given the job of representing the UK in the White House.
Leaked emails show that Lord Mandelson, a former Labour cabinet minister, told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before the US financier was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said: “If Keir knew then what he knows now, he would not have made that appointment.”
But Lord Mandelson is insisting that he provided full details during the vetting process.
One Labour MP described the scandal as “another hole in the wall” following the resignation of former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. The MP said: “The bigger picture this last week was the reshuffle that has left everybody unhappy.
“You had a lot of antipathy between the Parliamentary Labour Party and Keir. That antipathy is becoming disdain, and in some quarters that disdain is becoming disgust.”
Highlighting the role of the Prime Minister’s advisers, the MP said: “Because Keir is new to politics, he is very dependent on a very narrow circle of metropolitan advisers.
“He has to try to fix that. Whether he will – I doubt it. And that leaves him very fragile.”
Left-wing Labour MP Kim Johnson said Sir Keir “was definitely wrong” to appoint Lord Mandelson. She said: “What’s happened is that trust and confidence in the party is eroding, because this is just one of many crises that we have seen happen since we were elected into power last year.”
Fellow Labour MP Paula Barker said: “The delay in sacking him has only served to further erode the trust and confidence in our government and politics in the round.”
Another Labour MP said: “Who the hell was advising Starmer, or did he ignore the advice? Everybody knew that Mandelson was friendly with Epstein, so what was Keir thinking of?”