A Labour councillor has admitted things are “not looking good” for Sir Keir Starmer as pressure mounts on the Prime Minister to step down.
Speaking to GB News, Sebastian Salek said although Sir Keir is a “decent man” who is “trying to do the right thing”, things are “not looking great at all” for his leader.
As Sir Keir’s Cabinet ministers including David Lammy, Rachel Reeves and Lisa Nandy rally their support behind the PM, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on his boss to go.
Addressing a press conference today, Mr Sarwar declared: “I have a genuine friendship with Keir Starmer. The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.”
As host Martin Daubney argued the operation of the Labour Government is “more of the same old rot” and the electorate are “sick to the back teeth of it”, Mr Salek responded: “Well, it is and it isn’t.
“I think everybody who has resigned from this Government has done so for the right reasons, and there’s nobody who I think should have stayed in post after what they did. But they did promise more transparency and more accountability, I think that’s the reality.”
He argued: “Whereas if you look back to the Boris Johnson days, there were cabinet ministers clinging on – look at Priti Patel, look at Dominic Raab after doing really serious things.
“This Government, when somebody crosses the line and does something they shouldn’t, however minor, they are going very quickly and I think that is something positive at least.”
Sebastian Salek has admitted it is ‘not looking good’ for Sir Keir Starmer amid mounting calls for him to resign
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GB NEWS / PA
Reflecting on Mr Sarwar’s calls for Sir Keir to quit, Mr Salek agreed the Scottish leader’s position has become “more difficult” in light of the Peter Mandelson scandal in Westminster.
He said: “Everybody is trying to do their job, and once you think through that prism, you understand what everybody is going to do, and often you can guess what they’re going to do before they do it. And Anas Sarwar’s job is to win big in Scotland in May.
“And he’s now saying that it’s going to be difficult to do that with the story that has whipped up over the last few weeks, and it’s a shame that it’s picked up so much momentum despite the disclosures not coming out, because that’s really the evidential base for all of this.
“If it turns out that Starmer was honest all along and there is some some dignity he can cling on to, and I think he probably might be, but the problem is we’re kind of beyond that now. Nobody really cares what’s in them. The political momentum has moved on and and that evidential base doesn’t really matter anymore, and I think that’s a great shame.”
Anas Sarwar held an emergency press conference in Glasgow | GB NEWS
Offering a defence for the PM, the Labour councillor told Martin: “I genuinely in my heart of hearts believe he’s a decent man and I think he’s trying to do the right thing, and you listen to people like Gordon Brown, and I think Alastair Campbell as well, who have said similar things.
“And these are men who know him, who have worked with him. But you get a lot of sleazy figures in politics, don’t you, who go into it for the wrong reasons.”
Pushing Mr Salek, Martin asked the Labour councillor: “You have to admit, even as a born Labour Party optimist, this is looking like the end game?”
He admitted: “Oh, yeah, it’s not looking great at all. I would hope that would be clear from everything that I’ve said, it’s really not looking good for Starmer.
Mr Salek told GB News that it is ‘not looking great’ for the Prime Minister
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GB NEWS
“And I do think it’s a shame that we’ve got to this point for the two reasons I’ve raised. The first, that there is no evidence base for it because we haven’t seen those disclosures, but also because we need to see one politician, whoever they are, whatever party they’re from, enacting an agenda.
“This country is being thrown from pillar to post. We get two years of this, we get three years of that, and look where it’s got us. We’ve been doing that since 2015 and the result is clear for all to see.”
A No10 spokesman has assured Sir Keir is “getting on with the job in hand” and “delivering change across the country”.
The spokesman added Sir Keir remains “upbeat and confident” following a speech to staff in Downing Street this morning.