London Bangla A Force for the community…
STARMER knows this is serious. It was bad enough when an enlivened Kemi Badenoch seized the gift of the Mandelson scandal to give the Prime Minister a firm telling off in the House of Commons – but now his own side is turning on him too.
Prominent Labour MPs and old grandees are queueing up to claim that they advised against the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the USA. The answer “too little, too late” springs to mind. The opposite of a lapse in memory, the effect of these sudden recalls is to isolate Starmer. A wounded quarry is easier to finish off, so maximise the side-swipes before you go in for the kill.
Angela Rayner MP: Starmer disloyalist?
Starmer saw the vetting and was them misled by Mandelson’s lies. That’s his story, and it has led to the Tories questioning his judgement. The new Starmer disloyalists didn’t see the vetting and were not on Mandelson’s interview panel – but they knew all along that Mandelson was an unwise choice, and kept quiet about it, until now. Personal ambition knows no bounds – whether it is from an MP desperate for Starmer’s job or from a New Labour has-been who is delighted to pick up a few more appearance fees from media outlets stuck in the same groove.
The Tories, Labour MPs and activists alike were all calling for the resignation of Morgan McSwweney – who has been Starmer’s Chief of Staff since the mysterious resignation of Sue Gray. Now he has gone, confessing that he had advise Starmer to appoint Mandelson – taking the blame for the error of judgement in an attempt to end matters. It won’t work.
When the baying hounds taste blood, they bay for more. The story that Starmer made an error of judgement when he appointed Mandelson will stay – alongside a new story that Starmer made an error of judgement when he appointed McSweeney. And was Starmer so dim that he didn’t make his own mind up on appointing Mandelson but just did what his adviser told him? That is not going to rehabilitate the Prime Minister.
Morgan McSweeney was steeped in New Labour. He worked for the Labour Party under Tony Blair before taking on various party roles – culminating in running Labour’s 2024 General Election campaign. The Tories lost the General Election: Labour claimed it was a mandate for them, given by the voters, whose wishes were expressed thanks to McSweeney’s organising skills. McSweeney was also thought to be a friend of Mandelson: if he wasn’t, they were at least close political allies. It’s no wonder Starmer’s premiership has been so reminiscent of Blair’s rule.
So the story of Morgan McSweeeny’s resignation is not one of an honourable resignation of a man who made a mistake. It is the story of the Blairites trying to stay in control – and sacrificing the organiser to protect the front man.
Fare well, McSweeney. Please turn the light out as you leave your office. And now let’s get back to the main story. It will not end well.
Starmer: how much longer can he hang on?
Until recently, it did not look as if Starmer would resign before the May Elections. He probably thought that his internal critics would see the need to pull together at least until then. The wise money was on Starmer accepting the blame for a bad result, after polling day, and standing down then. A new idea floating round is that Starmer should resign now and leave the party leadership to a caretaker Prime Minister, allowing a leadership contest to take place after the May elections. As there is no clear challenger who is free from baggage – tax issues or a friendship with Mandelson – and popular enough to win the leadership election, that allows everyone to hedge their bets. However they do it, though, any Labour Leader will have to govern on the 2024 Labour manifesto.
As the Blairites and neo-Blairites and quasi-Blairites and New Blairites try to find a way forward, one cannot help but think of those who put pressure on Jeremy Corbyn MP to set up a new Party. There was no point staying in the Labour Party or trying to reclaim it, they said… because there was no way that Labour MPs and party members would ever challenge Keir Starmer and his policies.
●Read more about it:
Starmer moves on migrants
Starmer bales out London Councils but “fines” Tower Hamlets
