A furious Barry Gardiner didn’t hold back on Keir Starmer over his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal, hinting that he should resign as prime minister.
Starmer’s government has been embroiled in scandal this week after the latest release of Epstein files shed light on the relationship between Mandelson, who was appointed as the US ambassador by Starmer in 2024, and the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Documents released showed emails between the pair in which Mandelson passed confidential government information to Epstein.
Emails also showed how Mandelson carried on his friendship with Epstein after the disgraced financier served prison time for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
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The scandal has sparked fury from Labour MPs, and has increased pressure on Starmer following months of poor polling for both his party and himself.
One of those who hasn’t hold back in voicing their disappointment and anger in the PM’s leadership and handling of the scandal is Barry Gardiner.
Appearing on Newsnight, the Labour MP said Starmer and his government had failed to deliver the ‘change’ they promised in the 2024 manifesto.
The Labour MP said the debacle of recent days was more of the same chaos the country had experience under 14 years of Tory governments.
He urged Starmer to ‘think very hard about what’s in the country’s best interest.’
When Gardiner was asked if he believed the PM should resign, he simply stayed silent in a telling pause…
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Starmer told Parliament he was aware of the former business secretary’s ongoing friendship with Epstein when he appointed him as ambassador.
A visibly angry Starmer said Mandelson had “lied repeatedly” throughout the vetting process and that he regretted appointing him as US ambassador.
Starmer also confirmed his team was drafting legislation to strip Lord Mandelson of his title, and this morning agreed with the King that Mandelson should also be removed from the Privy Council.
The government will be releasing all material relating to Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, with sensitive documents referred to a cross-party security committee.