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Sir Keir Stamer has insisted the "vast majority" of Labour MPs supported him and wanted him to continue doing his job as prime minister. He was speaking to the Sunday Times at the end of a week in which speculation about a potential leadership challenge has risen. Sir Keir told the paper "in politics, you get this sort of thing all of the time, there is always talk". Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the prime minister should resign over his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the US, adding that Labour MPs should "develop a...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life, and speculation about his replacement has centered on an unlikely figure: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who would become Britain’s first Muslim prime minister if elevated to the role. Starmer’s troubles stem from his December 2024 decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a veteran Labour grandee, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington — despite allegedly knowing about Mandelson’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Newly released Epstein documents revealed Mandelson maintained contact with the convicted sex offender after his 2008 guilty plea, allegedly shared sensitive government information with him, and received $75,000 in payments,...

Keir Starmer should step aside in favour of a caretaker prime minister who would run the country until a leadership contest is held in the summer, Labour MPs have argued. Despairing Government backbenchers argue that unless the Prime Minister quits over the Peter Mandelson crisis, the party is heading for disaster at the Gorton and Denton by-election later this month – followed by annihilation in May’s local elections. They hope the Cabinet will this week persuade Sir Keir to quit and allow a ‘non-contentious’ candidate such as Defence Secretary John Healey or Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn to be a...

Sir Keir Starmer's rattled allies today issued a desperate warning to rebel Labour MPs that a leadership coup by Angela Rayner will trigger a general election. The under-fire Prime Minister is battling to stay in Downing Street as he reels from the Lord Mandelson scandal, with a number of backbenchers openly questioning his future. In a bid to contain the crisis, Sir Keir has promised to release documents related to Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador in February last year. But the Government was forced into ceding control of the release of material to Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC),...

Sir Keir Starmer will battle to save his job in Parliament on Monday by setting out further details of the “unforgivable” error by officials in not telling him Peter Mandelson had failed his security vetting. In a Commons statement, Sir Keir will be faced with allegations he misled Parliament after telling MPs the proper process had been followed in appointing Lord Mandelson to the post of ambassador to the US, insisting he had been kept in the dark about the peer being red-flagged by security experts. Sir Keir effectively fired the Foreign Office’s top official Sir Olly Robbins last week...

The prime minister did not know Lord Mandelson failed security vetting for the role of US ambassador until earlier this week, the government has said. A spokesperson said the decision to go against the recommendation of the vetting agency and allow him to take up the role was taken by officials in the Foreign Office. Sir Keir Starmer has faced calls to resign over allegations he misled Parliament and MPs when he claimed "full due process" was followed during the appointment. It came after the Guardian newspaper reported, external that Lord Mandelson was initially denied security clearance in late January...

@PolitlcsUK 🚨 NEW: Peter Mandelson is set to spend the night in a police cell as he has not yet been released from custody

Summary Peter Mandelson has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and is being interviewed at a London police station - here's what we know so far A short while ago the former minister was seen being led from his London home to an unmarked car by police officers - read the police statement in full The ex-US ambassador had been under investigation over allegations he shared market-sensitive government information with Jeffrey Epstein while a government minister Lord Mandelson has not publicly commented in recent weeks on the Epstein files, but the BBC understands his position has consistently...

Lord Peter Mandelson has been asked to testify to the US Congress over his relationship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. A letter from two Democrat members of the House of Representatives called on the former British ambassador to Washington to answer questions from the House Oversight Committee as part of their probe into Epstein. The disgraced peer's links with Epstein have led to calls for Sir Keir Starmer to stand down as prime minister. The prime minister's judgement has been questioned by critics over his appointment of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador, a role considered the most prestigious posting...

Labour MPs have called for Sir Keir Starmer to stand down after his chief of staff was forced to quit Downing Street over the Peter Mandelson scandal. Morgan McSweeney resigned today after pushing for the appointment of Lord Mandelson as Britain's ambassador to the US. While Mr McSweeney has been one of Sir Keir's closest aides for nearly six years and was considered instrumental in his 2024 election victory, his departure has been far from unanimously mourned within the Party. 'I won't be shedding a tear that he's gone,' one anonymous Labour MP said. 'He's the very worst of our...

Summary Anger is growing among Labour backbenchers over Keir Starmer's handling of the Lord Mandelson scandal It comes after the prime minister told Parliament he was aware of the former business secretary's ongoing friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he appointed him as UK ambassador to the US last year Starmer said he was misled about the "sheer depth and extent" of Mandelson's relationship with Epstein Asked on BBC Newsnight if the prime minister should step down, Labour MP Barry Gardiner said: "I think he needs to think very hard about what is in the country's best interest" MP Rebecca...

Sir Keir Starmer has apologised to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for believing Lord Mandelson's "lies" and appointing him as the UK's ambassador to the US. The prime minister began a planned speech on funding to improve local communities by addressing the growing anger over how he had dealt with the issue. While he acknowledged it had been publicly known for some time that Lord Mandelson knew Epstein, he said: "None of us knew the depths and the darkness of that relationship". However, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the PM's position was "untenable", while the Liberal Democrats called for a...

MPs have approved the release of documents about Lord Mandelson's appointment as UK ambassador to the US, following a backlash from Labour backbenchers. It comes after Sir Keir Starmer had insisted he would not publish information that could damage national security or UK diplomatic relations. But after senior Labour MPs, including Angela Rayner, urged ministers to change course, they were forced to agree to involve a cross-party parliamentary committee in the process. Sir Keir was under pressure to disclose the papers, after police launched a criminal investigation into claims Lord Mandelson passed sensitive government information to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein....

‘Petey’ is back in Britain, looking for a vengeance. And so it happens that Lord Peter Mandelson is back to Britain, after getting fired as US ambassador in the wake of the scandal caused by his emails to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Instead of the glory he would have dreamed of, he is facing ignominy. Mandelson and Epstein shopping in the US Virgin Islands. ============================================================================== The leaked emails revealed that Mandelson continued to support Epstein even after a conviction in Florida for ‘procuring a child for prostitution’. Columnist Andrew Pierce, wrote on the Daily Mail: “‘Fight for early release,’ he...

Labour MP Clive Lewis has said Sir Keir Starmer "doesn't seem up to the job" as anger grows over Peter Mandelson's appointment as an ambassador and the handling of his sacking. Mandelson was fired over links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The men's friendship had been known about at the time of his appointment but No 10 said new information about their relationship only came to light this week. Lewis, an outspoken voice on the Labour left, told the Radio 4's Week in Westminster: "It feels that he [the prime minister] has lost control within the first year". Minister Douglas...

Keir Starmer sacks Peter Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the US, after he faced mounting scrutiny over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein A Foreign Office statement says the decision was made "in light of the additional information" in emails written by Mandelson "The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment," it says... Starmer told MPs on Wednesday "I have confidence in him", when pressed on his appointment at PMQs

Lord Mandelson says calling Donald Trump a "danger to the world" in 2019 was "ill-judged and wrong". The former Labour minister has been named as the next UK ambassador to the US, although there have been questions about whether President Trump will accept him. The 71-year-old told the conservative-backing US TV channel: "I consider my remarks about President Trump as ill-judged and wrong. "I think times and attitudes towards the president have changed since then. "I think people have been impressed, not just by the extraordinary second mandate that he has received from the American people, but the dynamism and...

Britain’s former trade commissioner in Brussels, Lord Mandelson, is making common cause with hardline, anti-EU Tories, saying Theresa May’s latest Brexit blueprint would lead to “national humiliation” and leave the country in a worse position than if it turned its back on the entire European economic system. In an extraordinary intervention that shows that even the most ardent Remainers in parliament find the plans unacceptable, the Labour peer says the plans would deliver “the polar opposite of taking back control”, and would mean “the EU would ultimately call the shots, not just now but indefinitely”. Writing in the Observer –...

The son of Libyan dictator Colonel Gadaffi is to celebrate the first anniversary of the Lockerbie bomber's release by giving a party for him. Saif Gadaffi, whose friends include Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson, will attend the revelry for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in his two-storey house in Tripoli. He will foot the bill for food and drink, following a day's fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. When Megrahi, 58, was released on August 20 last year, Scottish authorities said he had only three months to live and was 'going home to die'.

The son of Libyan dictator Colonel Gadaffi is to celebrate the first anniversary of the Lockerbie bomber's release by giving a party for him. Saif Gadaffi, whose friends include Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson, will attend the revelry for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in his two-storey house in Tripoli. He will foot the bill for food and drink, following a day's fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. When Megrahi, 58, was released on August 20 last year, Scottish authorities said he had only three months to live and was 'going home to die'. Frank Duggan, a lawyer...