Is this the end for Starmer? – The Latest

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:13I am sorry. Sorry for having believed Mandelson's lies. But what he didn't crucially say was that he was sorry for appointing Mandelson, despite knowing that there were links between Mandelson and Epstein. Not an insignificant moment. There is a real weakening of his position. Keir Starmer is facing one of the worst weeks of his premiership so far, apologising to victims of Jeffrey Epstein as he tries to weather the Peter Mandelson scandal. Can the Prime Minister survive? From the Guardians today in Focus, this is The Latest with me, Lucy Hough.

0:51Joining me is Lexi Topping, Guardian political correspondent. So, I mean, it's been a torrid week for Keir Starmer, the prime minister, arguably the most challenging of his premiership so far. He is facing serious questions from within his own party after that admission in the Commons yesterday that he knew about the relationship between Peter Mandelson, the former US ambassador and the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. he has apologised today in a pre-arranged speech in Hastings but he used the first part of that speech to make this apology what did he say what was the tone it was interesting actually because Starmer was in Hastings to promote this big government push for high streets called pride in place it's something the government really cares about and they were really hoping to get back on the front foot on the kind of domestic agenda.

1:43But he went straight into tackling the questions about Mandelson. And frankly, he couldn't have done anything else after a really torrid day in the Commons for him yesterday. He took it straight on. He said that he was sorry for believing Mandelson's lies. He apologised to the victims of Epstein again that this story continued to be brought up again and again in the press. He said he was sorry to them. He was sorry for believing Mandelson's lies. But what he didn't crucially say was that he was sorry for appointing Mandelson, despite knowing that there were links between Mandelson and Epstein.

2:21And I think that, frankly, that will make Labour MPs or risk making Labour MPs even angrier than they were yesterday, which is quite difficult, frankly. Yes, the tone was, I'm sorry that Peter Mandelson was dishonest with me, but there was not a Mia Culper for the decision to appoint him. And the point that various reporters made in the press conference afterwards was that it was a known fact that Mandelson and Epstein had a relationship. It had been reported widely in the media. People knew. And it becomes a question of Keir Starmer's judgment. But certainly lots of pressure from within Starmer's own party.

2:55In our paper overnight on the front page of The Guardian today, we had the quote, it's over from one anonymous source speaking to our lobby team, a real sense that this could be terminal. What's the mood music within Labour MPs at the moment, would you say? It was pretty febrile yesterday. There were MPs who were utterly furious at how not only at the revelations about Mandelson, but about what the government had known, how it had carried out the vetting process. and the fact that they'd just taken this massive risk on Mandelson, despite everyone knowing Mandelson was a massive risk, even if you took Epstein out of the equation, which obviously we shouldn't.

3:38But, you know, this is a man who'd already been forced to resign from two government posts. Many people had flagged that he was a huge risk before he was appointed. So that's what MPs were really focused on yesterday. Also, this moment in the House of Commons when Starmer admitted in public that he had known about associations between Epstein and Mandelson. Can the Prime Minister tell us, did the official security vetting he received mention Mandelson's ongoing relationship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein? Prime Minister? Yes, it did. Now, what's interesting about this is that we already knew this.

4:21This had been in the public domain that Starmer knew about this, But it was almost like this revelation came in PMQs and the fact that he'd admitted it, you know, that it was him actually saying it in person rather than, you know, it being reported in a newspaper. It did really feel like quite a shocking moment. Yeah, it was such a big moment, wasn't it? The prime minister at the dispatch box saying, I knew. I mean, you could almost see the shock on Labour MPs faces, the sense of a sharp intake of breath. The person who is very significant in all of this is Morgan McSweeney, who is a very influential person in Number 10.

4:57He is Keir Starmer's chief of staff, and he is known to have a close relationship with Peter Mandelston and to have been influential, we're told, in pushing for his appointment as US ambassador. There are MPs who are saying at the very least, Morgan McSweeney, the chief of staff, must resign as a first port of call. Yeah, I mean, McSweeney has become this kind of lightning rod of Labour MP's disconsent, even before this all rolled out this week. Many people blame McSweeney for the U-turns that this government has had to carry out. They think that he is a hugely influential figure in Downing Street and one that is not good for the party, not good for the country.

5:41So even before this, I think he was the focus. It feels now, though, that his role is becoming increasingly untenable. It may well be that while Labour MPs aren't prepared to stand against Starmer and say that he should step down, they may call for McSweeney's head. And this is going to be really difficult for Starmer. I mean, McSweeney is absolutely crucial to his plan. And he said again today that he had utmost confidence in him, that McSweeney was someone who, you know, helped Labour win this really big landslide victory just in 2024. And that he did have confidence. That was a message reiterated on the morning media rounds by a cabinet minister.

6:23So they're pushing hard for McSweeney to stay because he really is crucial to that Starmer government. Whether he can remain, though, remains, you know, remains to be seen. and and Keir Starmer also refusing at that press conference this morning to well was dodging questions about whether his own position was untenable our colleague Kieran Stacey was in the room and and put quotes from uh the briefings that the lobby guardian lobby team have been receiving that quote it's over you know this is untenable Starmer not rising to that yes I mean Stacey in there as the babyface of Stassin, really. It can't have been easy listening to those quotes from his own MPs talking about end of days, you know, this is over, it feels like Chris Pinscher, which obviously the scandal that brought down Boris Johnson on steroids.

7:14But I do think we have to take a little step back here. You know, it's actually quite difficult to get rid of a Labour Prime Minister by Labour MPs. It's not ever really been done before. What it requires is 20 % of Labour MPs to sign a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister. That would be 81 MPs. And actually, that's never been achieved. So what you could see is a resignation by a significant cabinet minister, Skama, coming under pressure, but possibly able to resist that pressure. But regardless, it is not an insignificant moment. There is a real weakening of his position here and it wasn't a particularly strong position to start with.

8:00Yeah, and Keir Starmer is looking at two very difficult dates coming down the track. In the first instance, the by-election in Gawston and Denton at the end of this month, which was already going to be challenging for Labour, facing off a challenge from Reform UK. But that's likely to be even more challenging now. And then the May local elections. So, I mean, that makes things seem even more difficult. Is there likely to be a delay, therefore, in any serious challenge to his leadership before those windows? My money would still be on after the May elections, which everybody within the Labour Party is bracing to be pretty brutal.

8:42Gorton and Dented is, of course, fascinating because it calls Dahmer's judgment into question again if Labour lose that seat, which they won by a really comfortable majority in the last election, because it was Dahmer, of course, who blocked the Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, from standing that seat and trying to win it. reform are currently in the lead there, but there's like a massive disparity in polls between just how far behind Labour are. The Greens are behind Labour, but again, we don't know if that's based on previous polling and this by-election really feels like it's all up for grabs.

9:16So anything could really happen in Groton and Denton and unless Labour win, which at the moment seems unlikely, but it's not impossible, then I think that will just be more pressure on Starmer. But what's interesting, though, is that who would challenge him at this moment? You know, you have Andy Berman, who's currently in no position to stand in any kind of leadership contest. You've got Wes Streeting, who has himself has links with Peter Mandelson and did when he entered Parliament. And you've got Angela Rayner, who's still dealing with, you know, her tax arrangements. And there's not been a ruling come back on that yet.

9:56So it feels like the armies are not in place yet for any serious leadership contest. But Angela Rayner having a very busy week, isn't she? She was influential yesterday in the Commons in fending off more embarrassment for Starmer's government. So really one to watch there, even if she still is under investigation, as you say. So it's really one we will be talking about a lot in the next few weeks and months. Thank you so much, Lexi. Thanks for having me. That's it for today. My thanks again to Lexi Topping, Guardian political correspondent. You can keep up with her reporting over at theguardian.com.

10:31Thanks for listening to this episode of The Latest, the new evening edition of Today in Focus. Today in Focus will be back in your feeds tomorrow morning, as usual, with a look at Bad Bunny, the anti-ice superstar, ahead of his Super Bowl performance. We'll be back tomorrow night. This episode was presented by me, Lucy Hoth It was produced by Bryony Moore The senior producer was Ryan Ramgobin The lead producer was Zoe Hitch

10:58This is The Guardian