Keir Starmer is facing more Commons misery over the Mandelson scandal today as doubts rise over whether he can cling on.
Sir Keir will brave PMQs amid signs support is ebbing away, with Cabinet dissent surfacing publicly following damning testimony from the Foreign Office mandarin he sacked.
In the latest hint at trouble, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden repeatedly refused to say the ousting of Olly Robbins was ‘fair’ during interviews this morning. Instead he said it had been the ‘PM’s judgement’.
Having declined to use the description on Times Radio, Mr McFadden finally said Sir Keir had ‘acted fairly’ after being challenged twice more on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The minister also squirmed as he was pressed on whether Sir Keir personally pushed the Foreign Office to make his spin doctor an ambassador – admitting he had not asked No10 before going out to defend the Government’s position.
Many despairing Labour MPs believe it is now a question of ‘when, not if’ Sir Keir goes, after the latest flare-up dashed hopes his response to Donald Trump’s Iran war could revive his premiership.
However, in a crumb of comfort for the premier, his potential rivals are still holding off as Labour braces for a local elections battering in a fortnight.
Keir Starmer will brave PMQs amid signs support is ebbing away, with Cabinet dissent surfacing publicly following damning testimony from a Foreign Office mandarin
At an extraordinary Parliamentary hearing yesterday, sacked Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins revealed the ‘atmosphere of pressure’ created by No10 to approve Mandelson as ambassador to the US
Angela Rayner stopped short of directly criticising Sir Keir at an event last night, insisting the country has bigger problems than chaos over Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.
At an extraordinary Parliamentary hearing yesterday, sacked Foreign Office chief Sir Olly revealed the ‘atmosphere of pressure’ created by No10 to approve the New Labour grandee as ambassador to the US.
He hit out at a ‘dismissive approach’ to problems with the appointment, as he explained why he had not told Sir Keir that vetting officials advised against proceeding with the posting.
The crisis took another turn when Sir Olly revealed that Downing Street had secretly tried to give another plum diplomatic job to Sir Keir’s spin doctor.
In a stinging criticism of the PM’s judgment yesterday, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband publicly admitted he had been against giving Mandelson the prestigious Washington DC posting, well before it was known he had failed his security clearance test.
Asked what he had thought about the appointment at the time, Mr Miliband told Sky News: ‘That it could blow up, that it could go wrong. I had a conversation with David Lammy about it before the appointment, and I said I was worried about it. I think he was worried about it too.’
Mr Miliband also admitted he had ‘steered well clear’ of Mandelson during his own time as Labour leader.
In another blow to the PM, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told the Commons she was ‘extremely concerned’ about the revelation that the No10 private office had tried to give Sir Keir’s then-director of communications Matthew Doyle an ambassadorial role.
Ms Cooper said: ‘I am, of course, extremely concerned at any suggestion that the permanent secretary or permanent under-secretary of the Foreign Office would be told not to inform the Foreign Secretary.
‘I can also confirm that the case that he raised… it would not have been an appropriate appointment.’
Asked on Times Radio this morning if the sacking of Sir Olly felt fair, Mr McFadden said he thought ‘very highly’ of the mandarin.
In the latest hint at trouble, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden repeatedly refused to say the ousting of Olly Robbins was ‘fair’ during interviews this morning
‘I think if the Prime Minister’s made the judgment that he’s not got confidence in the head of the Foreign Office, the head of the foreign service, then it’s difficult to continue,’ he said.
Asked again if it was fair, Mr McFadden said: ‘Look, it’s the Prime Minister’s judgment.’
Pressed further, Mr McFadden said: ‘As a Cabinet member, I support the Prime Minister’s decisions.
‘He took the decision he couldn’t continue with Olly Robbins in post because he viewed the material that had been withheld from him, not shared with him, as really important in making this decision.’
Later in his tour of broadcast studios, Mr McFadden was challenged again whether Sir Olly had been treated ‘fairly’.
‘I understand the respect for Olly Robbins, I share it. Because I know him, I think he is a highly distinguished civil servant and he has served his country well,’ he said.
After dodging the question one more time, Mr McFadden said: ‘I think the PM has acted fairly in these circumstances, because he believes that he should have had that information.’
Even regular critics of Sir Keir have been angered by the sight of a slew of Whitehall veterans taking to TV screens complaining about the civil service being blamed.
One senior Labour source told the Daily Mail that while Mandelson should never have been appointed Sir Olly had ‘dropped a b***ock’.
‘Robbins dropped a b***ock but doubtless he will be fine – the old boys’ network will sort him out,’ they said.
‘It makes me puke all these idiots coming out to back him. The usual suspects.’
