A cabinet minister has pleaded with Labour MPs not to move against Sir Keir Starmer following anger over his handling of the Lord Mandelson scandal.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden admitted that the prime minister had made a “terrible mistake” in making the former Labour minister his US ambassador in 2024, despite Lord Mandelson’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein being a matter of public record at the time.
But he urged colleagues not to “drop the pilot” 18 months after Labour’s return to power, arguing it would not “solve the country’s problems”.
It comes as the boss of one of Labour’s 11 affiliated unions called for the party to change leader.
Steve Wright, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC One that “I don’t think we can wait” until local elections in May, adding that “everybody’s thinking it”.
He said that the government had become “distracted” by the episode and it had become a “trust and confidence issue” for Labour.
Sir Keir sacked Lord Mandelson from the Washington role last year, after emails emerged showing he sent supportive messages to Jeffrey Epstein as he faced charges for sex offences in 2008.
But further revelations this week about his continued relationship with the late disgraced financier after his conviction have led to renewed criticism of the prime minister’s decision from Labour MPs.
Sir Keir has accused Lord Mandelson of misrepresenting the extent of his relationship with Epstein in the run-up to his appointment. The BBC understands Mandelson’s view is that he answered questions about the relationship accurately.
Also speaking to Kuenssberg, McFadden said the episode had damaged the government, conceding the appointment had “turned out to be the wrong decision”.
But he urged Labour MPs not to try and oust Sir Keir over the episode, adding it would damage the economy and the UK’s “international reputation”.
“I know that when it’s a rough week it’s easy to reach for lever, change the leader, change the leader’s chief of staff, and think that will fix it,” he said.
“I think the country’s had pretty good experience in the last 10 years, and has tested to destruction the idea that changing the prime minister solves the country’s problems. It doesn’t.”
He also called for Lord Mandelson to return a pay-off he received after his sacking, or donate it to an “appropriate charity”.
McFadden also dismissed calls that Sir Keir should sack his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who is reported to have pushed for the former Labour minister’s recruitment into the US ambassador role.
It comes as Labour former cabinet minister Lord Blunkett repeated his call for McSweeney to leave Downing Street on Sunday. He said his belief in the need for a No 10 refresh had “hardened” in recent weeks.
“My view then and my view now is that [Sir Keir] needs a new chief of staff, he needs an opening up of the routes to him so that people can reach him and he can hear what people are thinking and feeling,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House.
“Everybody is running round like headless chickens as though there’s only one answer and it’s supposedly to get rid of the prime minister. What about all of us pulling together?”
Email exchanges in the latest US government release in January on Epstein included those sent while Mandelson was a member of Gordon Brown’s cabinet.
Among them is one that indicates Lord Mandelson gave Epstein advance notice of a €500bn bailout by the EU to save the Euro in 2010.
Another included a 2009 memo in which Brown’s policy adviser Nick Butler wrote about the UK’s struggling economy and recommended selling off government-held assets to raise public funds.
The Metropolitan Police is currently investigating the peer over allegations of misconduct in public office.
Mandelson has not responded to requests for comment but the BBC understands his position is that he has not acted in any way criminally and that he was not motivated by financial gain.
The government is set to publish up to 100,000 documents relating to Lord Mandelson’s vetting and his communication with Labour ministers in the months leading up to his appointment.
It comes after MPs approved a motion last week to force the release of the material, which could include potentially embarrassing private messages between the peer and ministers, officials and special advisers.
The Met has asked the government not to publish “certain documents” for fear of undermining their investigation.
Speaking on Sunday, Conservative shadow minister Alex Burghart said Lord Mandelson’s appointment had “totally destroyed” trust in Sir Keir’s judgement.
He said it would be “wrong if something were to get in the way” of the police investigation, but “a lot of material” could be published immediately.
Originally published at BBC News
