Starmer latest: PM to face furious Labour MPs after McSweeney resignation as he battles to save premiership

The Independent’s Political Correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

A government minister has said she "very much hopes" that Sir Keir Starmer will still be PM this time next year, insisting that "no prime minister has a human shield" in the wake of Morgan McSweeney's resignation.

It comes after allegations that Mr McSweeney took the fall for Sir Keir amid criticism of the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

"No Prime Minister has a human shield", Baroness Jacqui Smith told Sky News. "Every prime minister is exposed and responsible for the decisions that they make in government, that's something that is taken seriously.

"Asked whether he will still be prime minister this time next year, she said: "I very much hope so. I think the last thing that the country or the party could do with at the moment is a lengthy leadership campaign."

Scotland's First Minister has said that the prime minister’s position is one of "complete weakness”.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on Monday, John Swinney said: "All that's happened in recent days demonstrates an appalling judgment by the Prime Minister in appointing Peter Mandelson as the ambassador to the United States.

"Although Morgan McSweeney might have resigned, the person that took the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was the Prime Minister and his position is a demonstration of his complete weakness as Prime Minister in the aftermath of this terrible decision."

Dame Emily Thornberry said insisted Sir Keir Starmer was a “good leader”, but said he must “step up a bit more than he has” to ensure clear leadership.

Speaking to BBC’s Radio 4's Today programme, the senior Labour MP said that the party needed clear leadership, and Sir Keir needed to reset.

"He's a good leader in that he is strong and clear. I think that he needs to step up a bit more than he has.

"On the one hand, as a party, we need to be pretty united. Right from the leaflet deliverer to the Cabinet member, we need to be united and we need to know where we're going and we need to stick together.

"But we do need to have a clear leadership, and that's his challenge, so we reset and he needs to reset as well."

The Independent’s Political Correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

Sir Keir Starmer will "continue to lead change" in Britain, a government minister has insisted in the wake of the resignation of the PM's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.

Skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith admitted that Mr McSweeney played an "important role" in the Labour government, but she argued it was Sir Keir himself that "led the party" to win the 2024 general election.

Asked whether the prime minister can survive without his chief of staff, Baroness Smith told Sky News: "Well, Morgan McSweeney certainly played an important role with Keir in, first of all, changing and recovering the Labour Party, to a position where it could win the general election in 2024 and helping to win that election and for the first 18 months of the government.

"But it was Keir Starmer that led the party to win that election, to win a five year term, to change the country, and it's Keir Starmer that will continue to lead that change."

She said she "very much hopes" that Sir Keir will still be PM this time next year, insisting that "no prime minister has a human shield".

Sir Keir Starmer is allowing Morgan McSweeney to “carry the can” for his appointment of Peter Mandelson, the Tory leader has said.

Kemi Badenoch has again called for the prime minister’s resignation, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he must take responsibility for his decision.

She said: “(Claiming) 'I was badly advised' is not a good excuse for a leader. Advisers advise, leaders decide. He made a bad decision, he should take responsibility for that... this man said that he was the chief prosecutor for the country, when did he start believing everything that people told him?

"Peter Mandelson had been sacked twice for unethical behaviour. He is allowing someone else to carry the can for a decision that he chose to make. But the real problem is that this country is not being governed."

She added: "Keir Starmer promised a Government that would be whiter than white. His position now is untenable, because if he thinks that bad advice is enough for Morgan McSweeney to go, then, yes, I think that makes his position untenable."

The Independent’s Political Editor David Maddox reports:

It has been hard to find a Labour MP in the last 24 hours since Morgan McSweeney’s enforced departure who thinks the prime minister can stay in office.

Apart from tweets by a couple of ultra loyalists, Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership is “over” in the minds of most of the parliamentary Labour Party.

But his plan to go and plead his case in regards to the Peter Mandelson/ Jeffrey Epstein scandal to them this evening at a meeting of the PLP left some perplexed.

A number of MPs, mostly from the left, have already publicly made it clear they want him to follow his now former chief of staff out of Downing Street quickly.

One exasperated Labour MP told The Independent: “[The PM] is going to be heckled I would imagine.”

Another warned that it “will be a bloodbath.”

Another said: “I struggled to believe he is doing it. I don’t know what he hopes to achieve.”

Rachael Maskell told PA that Morgan McSweeney's departure was "a start" but that Keir Starmer now had to "turn away from the factionalism" caused by his former aide.

The Labour MP told BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour on Sunday: “Let’s listen very carefully over the coming days to see that Keir Starmer has really understood how serious it is, the situation, what he has to do to build that inclusive party.

“And if he can achieve that, if he puts the agenda of inclusion, of building the confidence that he’s going to address those inequalities, not just in his party but across the country, then of course we will see where we get to.

“But if he cannot do that, if he hasn't understood the seriousness of the situation, then I think he will find it very difficult to continue.”

Meanwhile, Starmer ally John Slinger said people from across the country had told him “the last thing the country needs is leadership speculations and that we should support the prime minister”.

The Independent’s Political Editor David Maddox reports:

The name Morgan McSweeney may not have been on the lips of many people down the pub or at the school gate, but it has been one that those in the Westminster bubble are obsessed with.

Now, though, he has become the biggest scalp yet in the rapidly escalating scandal over Peter Mandelson that threatens to also engulf the prime minister.

The departure of the man who was responsible for Sir Keir being the leader of the Labour Party, the architect of the subsequent election victory and central figure in running the government leaves a weak prime minister very badly exposed.

Labour MPs were always aware of the now former Downing Street chief of staff’s power and importance, as something they considered to be either a toxic poison at the heart of government or a means to future preferment and promotion.

The prime minister is expected to address Labour MPs at a meeting on Monday, according to reports.

It comes after the resignation of his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney following a turbulent week for the embattled leader.

He is also expected to give a statement on Mandelson scandal and his top aide Morgan McSweeney’s departure in Commons on Monday afternoon.