Keir Starmer was left squirming today as he faced another Commons battering over the Mandelson scandal.
Sir Keir was told to ‘take responsibility and go’ by Kemi Badenoch as he struggled to defend his actions amid mounting signs of Cabinet unrest.
The premier effectively admitted that the Foreign Office was urged to consider his former spin doctor Matthew Doyle for plum diplomatic postings, saying there were ‘often conversations about other roles’.
Extraordinarily, Sir Keir also claimed that dramatic testimony by ousted mandarin Olly Robbins yesterday had vindicated him.
The bitter clashes came with many Labour MPs in despair, after the latest flare-up in the furore dashed hopes his response to Donald Trump’s Iran war could revive his premiership.
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 Matthew Doyle an ambassador – admitting he had not asked No10 if that was true before going out to defend the Government’s position.
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.
As storm clouds gather around Sir Keir today:
- There are claims the PM was received in ‘silence’ as he tried to explain his handling of the Mandelson row at Cabinet yesterday;
- Baroness Hodge, the government’s anti-corruption champion, has suggested it was fine for No10 to seek a diplomatic posting for Lord Doyle because he was a ‘friend’;
- Left-wing bible the New Statesman has delivered a devastating assessment of Sir Keir’s performance, saying he is ‘failing’ and ‘cannot do the job’;
- Former Cabinet Secretary Lord Sedwill has called for Sir Olly to be reinstated as head of the Foreign Office;
- YouGov polls have warned that Labour is on track for its worst result in London for 50 years on May 7, while Reform could win elections in Wales.
Keir Starmer braved PMQs today amid signs support is ebbing away, with Cabinet dissent surfacing publicly following damning testimony from a Foreign Office 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
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 then-director of communications Matthew Doyle. He said he resisted it on the basis it would be ‘inappropriate’.
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 revelations about job-hunting for Lord Doyle.
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.’
Lord Doyle has denied he knew anyone was angling for jobs on his behalf.
This week has also seen Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander admit it is ‘not certain’ that Sir Keir will lead Labour into the next general election.
Asked on Times Radio this morning if the sacking of Sir Olly felt fair, Mr McFadden said he thought ‘very highly’ of the 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
‘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.’
The official readout of the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday suggested it was entirely dominated by the Mandelson chaos, despite the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
But briefing indicated that Sir Keir’s explanations did not go down well with ministers.
‘People had their heads down, looking at the desk. He was met in virtual silence,’ one source told the Financial Times.
Last night Ms Rayner used a growth summit to burnish her left-wing credentials. She insisted the Government ‘must go further’ and be ‘bolder’ on issues such as workers’ rights.
But the former deputy PM – who is still waiting for the outcome of wrangling with HMRC over her unpaid stamp duty – stopped short of attacking Sir Keir directly.
‘I’ll let this sink in to any journalists that are here. There’s some more important questions out there, and it’s on that note that I want to just take a moment at the end of the day to reflect on why all this matters, and to the world outside and beyond the bubble,’ she said.
The Ashton-under-Lyne MP added: ‘Right now, ordinary people feel that their lives are too hard and that the basics of a good life are unaffordable.
‘They suspect that this is because of an economy and a system that is rigged in favour of vested interests, and they’re right.
‘This affordability crisis has been decades in the making, over and over ordinary people feel that they’ve paid the price for every crisis, the financial crash, austerity, Brexit, Covid.’
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.’
