Labour MP says leader not ‘up to the job’ as PM

A Labour MP has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer, saying he “doesn’t seem up to the job”, as the PM scrambled to defend his under-fire chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, amid growing pressure over his involvement in the appointment of Peter Mandelson. Sir Keir insisted he had confidence in Mr McSweeney following reports he personally pushed for Lord Mandelson, despite concerns over his links with Jeffrey Epstein.

Britain’s ambassador to the US was dramatically sacked on Thursday amid new revelations about his relationship with the convicted paedophile — raising serious questions about the prime minister’s judgement, leading Labour MP Clive Lewis to become the first backbencher to publicly call for the prime minister to go.

It came as claims about Mr McSweeney’s involvement raised questions over whether or not he is the right person for the top Downing Street job. No 10 rowed in behind him on Friday morning, saying, “Of course, the prime minister has confidence in his top team.” But former Labour home secretary David Blunkett called on Sir Keir to “widen the circle” of people around him as he warned the prime minister that “politics is a rough ride”.

In what will be seen as a reference to Mr McSweeney, who entered Downing Street for the first time with Sir Keir, he said the Labour leader should gather around him “people with experience, people who are seasoned politicians, who he can test things with ... Actually counterweighting the younger people, the less experienced people who gather around him.”

Mr Lewis, the MP for Norwich South, who is on the left of the party, told BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster programme: “You see a Labour prime minister who feels that he’s lost control within the first year. “This isn’t navel-gazing. This is me thinking about my constituents, this country, and the fact that the person who is eight points ahead of us is Nigel Farage. That terrifies me. “It terrifies my constituents, and it terrifies a lot of people in this country. We don’t have the luxury of carrying on this way with someone who I think, increasingly, I’m sorry to say, just doesn’t seem up to the job.”

Earlier, former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind suggested to Times Radio that the PM would have to decide if Mr McSweeney was “a suitable adviser for the future, depending on what did actually happen”. Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch immediately seized on the reports, urging both Sir Keir and Mr McSweeney to explain themselves to the public. She said: “These latest revelations point yet again to the terrible judgement of Keir Starmer and why it is imperative that all documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment are released immediately. “If it is true that Starmer or his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, overruled the security services, as has been alleged, they need immediately to explain to the public why they did so.”

One senior Labour figure told The Independent that Sir Keir should look again at his No 10 operation in the wake of Lord Mandelson’s sacking. “I don’t come across any Morgan McSweeney fans,” they said. “His contempt for MPs is well known.” Meanwhile, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell warned: “A choice is emerging for Keir. Either McSweeney goes or he does.”

A Labour MP, who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions, told The Independent: “Should Morgan McSweeney be in Downing Street? No, of course he should not. He is part of a toxic political culture around the PM.”

Lord Mandelson’s sacking came after a string of shocking revelations, including emails appearing to show him offering support for Epstein as he faced charges of child sex offences.