Sir Keir Starmer has issued an apology to the victims of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and admitted “it was me that made the mistake” by appointing Lord Mandelson as the UK’s man in Washington.
The Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, initially took the rap for New Labour architect’s appointment, later resigning from No10 and taking “full responsibility” for the debacle.
However, during a visit to Northern Ireland, Sir Keir appeared to accept the responsibility lies squarely at No10’s door.
“It’s me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein,” the Prime Minister said.
Sir Keir spoke out about the scandal just hours after Labour MPs issued dire warnings about the future of his premiership.
Ex-Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: “Keir Starmer, you have allowed my party, the party of Keir Hardie, Clem Attlee, Aneurin Bevan, Harold Wilson, Barbara Castle, Tony Benn to be dragged into the gutter by Mandelson, McSweeney, Simons and Labour Together. We need an independent inquiry.”
Labour backbencher Richard Burgon added: “The Mandelson scandal is what happens when a small clique at the top of the Labour Party sidelines members and trade union voices to cosy up to the rich and powerful.”
A senior Labour MP also told The i Paper: “I think the assumption amongst Labour MPs was that today the least damaging stuff (would) come out, so there is surprise at what has come out… and how much worse it can (get) – and how quickly.
“This has the prospect of being (what) Covid lockdown rule-breaking was for Boris.”
Left-wing Labour MPs have also confirmed they will be joining an “online rally” on Monday following the release of the Lord Mandelson dossier.
The event will be attended by trade unionists, MPs and members of the hard-left Momentum campaign group.
Several Labour MPs ‘in talks’ to defect to the Greens
Several Labour MPs are “in talks” to defect to the Green Party but have demanded guarantees they would be backed electorally by Zack Polanski’s party.
While senior Green figures have confirmed to The Guardian that the party is in talks with several Labour MPs, none are currently at the stage of wanting to commit to joining the party.
This is due to Labour MPs reportedly wanting assurances from Mr Polanski’s party that they would be re-selected for their seat at the next general election.
One said: “This is part of a lot of the conversations, they want the guarantees. But we’re such a decentralised party, it’s not as easy for us to do as it is for other parties.”
Another said: “The Labour benches always look so miserable. Given they can look over and see that we’re such a happy team, why wouldn’t they want to come?”
Labour scolded as asylum housing spend takes staggering chunk out of foreign aid budget
Labour’s spending out of the foreign aid budget on housing asylum seekers could have been used to buy “three more war ships” to defend Britain, Mark White has told GB News.
Speaking on Martin Daubney, the People’s Channel Home and Security Editor highlighted growing calls for redirecting these resources towards military spending.
“And there’s many people would like to see the foreign aid budget channelled in a different direction, such as in defence, for instance,” he said.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Legislation to scrap the two-child benefit cap clears Lords
Legislation to scrap the two-child benefit cap has cleared the Lords, with the limit set to lift next month.
The Government successfully steered the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill through the Upper House this afternoon.
It has already cleared the Commons but will need to receive royal assent before it becomes law.
The limit, introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, restricts child tax credit and universal credit claims to the first two children in thousands of households.
Lifting it, so that families can claim benefits for more than two children, will help save on future health and benefits costs, Work and Pensions Minister Baroness Sherlock said.
She told the Lords: “Every pound we spend lifting children out of poverty saves so much more in future health, education and social security costs.
“There are few investments that will reap rewards as great as investing in the next generation, in our future workforce.”
Labour MP speaks about experience with anorexia
Dr Marie Tidball spoke about her experience for the first time in the Commons
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PARLIAMENT.TV
An MP has spoken out about living with anorexia as a teenager, in a bid to raise awareness of disabled women’s experience of eating disorders.
Dr Marie Tidball said she had heard from many disabled women whose eating disorders were “linked to their own body image and identity”, as was hers.
“My frustration about my physical form turned into obsession,” she told the Commons during a debate to mark International Women’s Day.
Dr Tidball’s anorexia began when she was 14 after her leg was amputated, and continued for four years. It led to hair loss and her period stopped.
Speaking publicly for the first time about her experience, she said: “When they amputated my leg, they amputated a part of me. I see my body and I feel disgust, repulsion.
“I fear that my amputation took away my femininity, my ability to be yearned for, my womanhood pauperised, trapped in a body that does not reflect my mind or myself. Anorexia, unplanned, like an addiction, crept upon me.
“I ate less and became thinner, my wish: that nobody would notice my disability and I would simply disappear. A physical escapism.
“For the first time in my life, the eating disorder gave me control over my body the way it looked, the way it felt. My frustration about my physical form turned into obsession. The obsession fed me, where food did not. It gave me power.
“Success became feeling bones left behind under taut skin, knowing my pelvis protruded below a small waist, cheek bones were prominent on a smile-less face.
“Anorexia was about the relationship between a despised body and a disciplined mind. Eventually, that mind was consumed too. A warped wasteland where fear and anger roamed.”
Holyrood to miss child poverty target
The Scottish Government will miss its child poverty target under its current plan, its own projections have said.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville published a new plan to tackle the issue on Thursday, which included a flurry of funding announcements, and she described it as a “catalyst” to meet the 2030 target.
The Government is required to reduce the child poverty rate, currently at 22 per cent, to at most 10 per cent by the end of the decade.
Projections released alongside the plan suggest more needs to be done to meet the target.
“While relative and absolute child poverty are projected to fall by 2030-31, based on policies outlined on the face of the delivery plan and the latest statistics, this drop is not sufficient to reach the final child poverty targets in 2030-31,” the projections said.
The rate of child poverty is projected to fall to 19 per cent in 2026-27, dropping further to 18 per cent in 2028-29, but then staying at that level until 2030-31.
New Green Party MP Hannah Spencer makes maiden speech in Commons
Gorton & Denton MP Hannah Spencer in the Commons
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PARLIAMENT.TV
Hannah Spencer has made her maiden speech in the Commons after winning the Gorton & Denton by-election in a debate on International Women’s Day.
The Green MP said: “I think of many others too, from pits, slums and factories, the women who changed the system so that I could be here, the women of colour whose names we will never know because history it didn’t bother to recognise or remember them.
“We do today because without their struggle and their fight and their determination to stick together, none of this could be possible.”
After she finished speaking, Labour MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy Melanie Ward made a joke about Ms Spencer’s previous career as a plumber, adding the Palace of Westminster was “in need of some maintenance.”
She said: “It’s entirely possible that both her plumbing and plastering skills will come in useful in the very near future.”
Kemi Badenoch says removing British historical figures from banknotes is a ‘silly thing to do’
Kemi Badenoch has said plans to remove British historical figures from banknotes is a “silly thing to do.”
The Bank of England is set to switch from showcasing people from Britain’s history, including Sir Winston Churchill, Alan Turing and Jane Austen, to wild animals instead.
Reacting to the news, the Conservative leader said: “This is not a problem at all. It’s not something that needs to be solved.
“If anything, I think that they should be putting more historical figures on banknotes. I would quite like to see Margaret Thatcher on a banknote. I think she was Britain’s greatest peacetime prime minister.
“Changing the pictures to put wild animals on them is a silly thing to do. I absolutely do not support it.”
Keir Starmer says Kneecap’s views are ‘completely intolerable’
Kneecap performing at last year’s Glastonbury Festival
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GETTY
The Prime Minister has slammed Belfast rap trio Kneecap, calling the group’s views “completely intolerable”.
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, had been accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, on November 2, 2024.
The case was thrown out in September last year, with chief magistrate Paul Goldspring ruling the proceedings were “instituted unlawfully”.
The Crown Prosecution Service appealed against the decision at the High Court at a hearing in January, with the Kneecap rapper opposing the challenge.
In a judgment on Wednesday, two judges at the High Court upheld the decision and dismissed the CPS appeal.
Asked about the ruling, Sir Keir Starmer said: “My views on Kneecap are very well known in relation to what they stand for and what they say, which is completely intolerable.
“I think the CPS were obviously subject to the High Court decision and they will be looking at the judgment very carefully.”
In a statement released after the judgment on Wednesday, Mr Ó hAnnaidh said: “This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public and never about ‘terrorism’, a word used by the British Government to discredit people you oppress both in Ireland and across the world.
“It was always about Palestine and about what happens if you dare to speak up. About what happens if you can reach large groups of people and expose their hypocrisy. I will not be silent. Kneecap will not be silent.”
Government pledges support against Iran ‘for as long as it takes’
The UK will continue to support military operations against Iran “for as long as it takes”, a minister has said.
Defence procurement minister Luke Pollard said it is not clear how long Iran will continue to carry out “reckless and indiscriminate” strikes on its neighbours.
However he said the UK has made a “long-standing” commitment to protect its personnel, bases and allies in the region, and it is prepared to defend civilian and military infrastructure for as long as necessary.
Keir Starmer pledges to ‘de-escalate’ Middle East conflict
Keir Starmer has said he will work to “de-escalate” the war in the Middle East.
It comes as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to avenge “martyrs” killed in the conflict in his first statement since his appointment.
The Prime Minister told reporters in Northern Ireland: “My role is to work with other international leaders to try to de-escalate the situation.”
Sir Keir said he will also co-ordinate with other leaders on the supply of oil.
He added: “That’s what we’re doing 24/7… talking to allies, talking to those in the region which I have been doing continually.”
No10 swats away Kemi Badenoch’s ‘cover-up’ claim
No10 denies Kemi Badenoch’s claims there was a “cover-up” in the Lord Mandelson files at the first Lobby meeting since their release.
A spokesman said: “I refute the suggestion of a cover-up – the Government has complied fully with the humble address.”
No10 insisted that written remarks about Peter Mandelson were read by Sir Keir Starmer.
A source told GB News that the box notes in the files which could have been filled in by the Prime Minister but are blank “were not redacted. No other versions exist”.
Keir Starmer faces backlash from Labour MPs
Sir Keir Starmer spoke out about the scandal just hours after Labour MPs issued dire warnings about the future of his premiership.
Ex-Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: “Keir Starmer, you have allowed my party, the party of Keir Hardie, Clem Attlee, Aneurin Bevan, Harold Wilson, Barbara Castle, Tony Benn to be dragged into the gutter by Mandelson, McSweeney, Simons and Labour Together. We need an independent inquiry.”
Labour backbencher Richard Burgon added: “The Mandelson scandal is what happens when a small clique at the top of the Labour Party sidelines members and trade union voices to cosy up to the rich and powerful.”
A senior Labour MP also told The i Paper: “I think the assumption amongst Labour MPs was that today the least damaging stuff (would) come out, so there is surprise at what has come out… and how much worse it can (get) – and how quickly.
“This has the prospect of being (what) Covid lockdown rule-breaking was for Boris.”
Left-wing Labour MPs have also confirmed they will be joining an “online rally” on Monday following the release of the Lord Mandelson dossier.
The event will be attended by trade unionists, MPs and members of the hard-left Momentum campaign group.
Keir Starmer fails to address Lord Mandelson scandal in first outing since bombshell 147-page dossier released
Keir Starmer appears at a primary school in Northern Ireland
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GB NEWS
Sir Keir Starmer has failed to address the scandal surrounding Lord Mandelson’s short-lived appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the US in his first outing since the release of a 147-page dossier yesterday.
The Prime Minister, who was visiting Northern Ireland today, addressed concerns about the war in the Middle East and appeared to take a veiled swipe at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Sir Keir also fielded questions from attendees at the community centre in Northern Ireland, primarily focused on childcare costs.
However, a No10 spokesman today denied there had been a “cover-up” following the first batch of documents being released.
“I refute the suggestion of a cover-up,” a Downing Street spokesman said.
“The Government’s complied fully. I just don’t accept that it’s the case at all.
“There are a range of different ways in which the Prime Minister’s senior team responds to advice.”
PICTURED: Yvette Cooper in Saudi Arabia
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PA
Yvette Cooper has become the first Cabinet Minister to visit the Middle East amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.
The Foreign Secretary met with embassy staff at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to coordinate attempts to evacuate British citizens from the region.
Keir Starmer clashed with defence chief over glacial warship deployment
Sir Keir Starmer has clashed with his defence chief over the “disastrous” failure to send warships to the Middle East.
Air Chief Marshal, Sir Richard Knighton, Britain’s Chief of Defence Staff, was said to have been at loggerheads with No10 over the UK’s slow response to the unfolding conflict in Iran.
The defence chief told No10 that an aircraft carrier was not needed as RAF Akrotiri apparently served the same purpose.
“We have an aircraft carrier – it’s called Cyprus.”
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
‘We must take anyone out who is attacking British bases and people,’ demands Tory leader
The UK must “take out anyone who is attacking British bases and British people”, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has urged.
Mrs Badenoch said the UK is in the Middle East war “whether we like it or not” and should destroy Iran’s missile launch sites.
“I believe that if people are firing on British bases, British service personnel, we shouldn’t just be catching the arrows, stopping the missiles.
“We should also try and take out the missile launch capability. I stand by that.
“I think it is very important that our soldiers understand that we will do everything we can to defend them. We have put British bases in other people’s countries, and those countries are telling us that we’re not doing enough to protect them.
“That worries me.”
Kemi Badenoch slams Peter Mandelson payment: ‘Something dodgy has happened’
Peter Mandelson should not have received a severance payout after his sacking from the Washington job, Kemi Badenoch has said.
The Tory leader told broadcasters during a visit to Wembley: “The Prime Minister told the country that Peter Mandelson had lied to him, that he’d lied to him throughout the appointment.
“If someone has been dishonest and lied, you don’t give them a severance payment. So something very dodgy has happened.”
Mrs Badenoch also said that “in any normal circumstances the Prime Minister would be resigning” after “he’s been shown to have lied to the Commons” and displayed a “complete lack of judgment”.
Asked whether Labour MPs were coming to her to try to stage a vote of no confidence in Sir Keir Starmer, Ms Badenoch said: “That’s a discussion that a few of them have had with the whips.”
‘Lord Mandelson should give £75k pay-out package to Epstein’s victims,’ says Labour minister
Nick Thomas-Symonds discussed Lord Mandelson’s pay out on GB News
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GB
Lord Mandelson should give his £75,000 severance package to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, a Labour minister has suggested.
Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told GB News: “Morally, I absolutely agree. Peter Mandelson shouldn’t have that money.
“Frankly, he should give that money away, possibly to a charity that supports victims. That would be the honourable thing to do.”
‘Lord Mandelson’s £75k payout is disgusting,’ deputy Tory chairman says
Matt Vickers joined GB News to discuss Lord Mandelson this morning
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GB NEWS
Tory MP Matt Vickers has described the decision to give Lord Mandelson a £75,000 payout as “absolutely disgusting”.
Speaking to GB News this morning, Mr Vickers said: “It was an utter, utter failure of judgement on behalf of the Prime Minister, and it’s there for everyone to see.
“And worse still, he gave him £75,000 of taxpayers’ money as a golden handshake, as a goodbye. Absolutely disgusting. Completely unacceptable.”
PM braces for questions after being told Mandelson appointment brought ‘reputational risk’
Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to face questions from journalists after yesterday’s dossier revealed the Prime Minister had been told about the “reputational risk” of making Lord Mandelson the UK’s man in Washington.
The Prime Minister is expected to field questions during a visit to Belfast this morning.
Labour’s top union donor nearly HALVES funding to Keir Starmer’s ‘incompetent’ party
The union Unite has halved the fee it pays to the Labour Party by 40 per cent.
The union, historically one of Labour’s highest donors, raged at Sir Keir Starmer’s party for dragging its feet on paying bin workers in Birmingham, who have now been on strike for over a year.
It will decrease the amount it funds Sir Keir’s party from £1.45million to £870,000, a move which the union said “shows the anger of Unite members”.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
MPs launch probe into ‘unfair’ student loans system
A cross-party group of MPs has launched an investigation into Britain’s student loan system to assess whether it is fair to young people.
The Treasury Committee said it was opening the probe in response to graduates who feel “intensely dissatisfied with the terms” of their loans.
The move comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled plans to freeze repayment thresholds from 2027.
Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier, Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, said the inquiry would focus on “fairness”.
She added: “Fundamentally, what we’re asking is: have the goalposts been moved in a way which is unfair to graduates?”
Lords vote to scrap non-crime hate incidents in major free speech victory
The House of Lords has voted to scrap non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) in what could lay the ground for a major free speech victory.
Peers narrowly voted 227 to 221 in an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which would bar police forces from recording, retaining or processing data related to NCHIs.
The incidents would still allowed to be recorded if required to prevent or detect a crime.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Kemi Badenoch calls on Labour MPs to OUST ‘dishonest’ Keir Starmer
Kemi Badenoch has called on Labour backbenchers to oust Sir Keir Starmer
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HOUSE OF COMMONS
Kemi Badenoch has called on Labour backbenchers to oust Sir Keir Starmer, accusing the Prime Minister of having “not been honest with the country”.
The Tory leader said Labour MPs must now consider whether Sir Keir is fit to remain in office.
“There are not enough Conservative MPs to remove the Prime Minister – he won a landslide,” she said.
“Labour MPs now need to consider their conscience and their position and ask if this man is fit to run our country.”
The Tory leader told Sky News that the “only people who can fix this” are Labour backbenchers.
She described the first tranche of the so-called Mandelson files as “yet another indictment of Keir Starmer’s judgment”.
She added: “The fact is we wouldn’t have been paying Peter Mandelson anything if Keir Starmer hadn’t appointed him in the first place.
“The vetting we have now seen shows the Prime Minister should never have made this decision.
“He has not been honest with the country and Parliament about what he knew.”
RECAP: Labour releases first batch of Peter Mandelson files – six most explosive details revealed
The Labour Government has released the first batch of files relating to the appointment and subsequent dismissal of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
In them, details are revealed concerning the circumstances of the New Labour architect’s ejection from Government, his connections to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and what Sir Keir Starmer knew ahead of giving him the diplomatic role.
Last month, the intense public scrutiny surrounding the scandal led to the PM being nearly ousted, the resignations of top Downing Street staff and the arrest of Lord Mandelson on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE