Pat McFadden: ‘I don’t think it’s good for the country to change prime minister every 18 months’
Keir Starmer’s government is reeling as pressure continues to grow around the prime minister’s appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, despite knowledge of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Starmer has issued an apology to Epstein’s victims for having ‘believed Mandelson’s lies’, and has acknowledged the ‘anger and frustration of Labour MPs’. On the BBC this morning, Laura Kuenssberg asked Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden if Starmer’s leadership is under threat. McFadden said it shouldn’t be, because Starmer has a ‘five year mandate’, and is focused on fixing the cost of living crisis. McFadden argued that changing prime minister has ‘an economic cost… a confidence cost… an international reputation cost’. He said Starmer is a ‘man of good faith’ and should continue. Kuenssberg asked if Starmer will push Mandelson to return his payout. McFadden said Mandelson should return it or donate it to charity.
McFadden: ‘There were advantages to having a political appointment… with a background in business’
On GB News, Camilla Tominey suggested to Pat McFadden that this is a crisis of the prime minister’s own making and asked why Karen Pierce couldn’t have continued in her role as US ambassador. McFadden said there was a view that with ‘this particular administration’, Mandelson’s political experience and background in business and trade would be an advantage. The work and pensions secretary acknowledged that the appointment had been a ‘huge mistake’, but defended the rationale for it at the time. Tominey said many viewers think the rationale had actually been for the prime minister to ‘keep the Blairite wing on side’, and asked McFadden what he knew about Mandelson’s links to Epstein back in 2008. McFadden said he ‘hadn’t heard of Jeffrey Epstein’ then or for years after 2008. He said it is wrong to suggest that Mandelson was appointed to keep certain Labour figures happy, but claimed he was not involved at all in the discussions around the appointment.
Alex Burghart: ‘I think the prime minister’s position is untenable’
On Sky News, Trevor Phillips asked Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart if the Conservatives would be putting forward a no-confidence motion against Keir Starmer. Burghart said he had ‘never thought [Starmer] was fit to be prime minister’, and claimed Starmer’s position is no longer ‘politically tenable’. He acknowledged that the Conservatives don’t have a majority in the House of Commons, but suggested that if Labour MPs want to talk to Conservative whips about tabling a no-confidence vote, they would ‘have that conversation’. Burghart claimed it was ‘very striking’ that no Labour MPs defended the prime minister in the Commons on Wednesday when Kemi Badenoch called for the release of documents around Mandelson’s appointment.
Rhun ap lorwerth: ‘We won’t be raising taxes’
Laura Kuenssberg also spoke to Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap lorwerth, who said his party offered a ‘hopeful vision’, not one of ‘division’, and had a ‘serious plan’ to raise standards for public services in Wales. Kuenssberg asked if that plan might include raising taxes. Ap lorwerth said he could make the ‘explicit promise’ that Plaid Cymru would not be raising taxes. He said there is a ‘fundamental issue around the funding of Wales’ and he believes Plaid Cymru could achieve progress on this through a ‘more transparent relationship’ with the UK government than Welsh Labour have. Ap lorwerth said they have a ‘very blunt taxation landscape’ in Wales, and Plaid Cymru would like the powers to have more nuanced bands and thresholds. Kuenssberg asked if they would like to cut taxes. Ap lorwerth said he would like to build a taxation system where it might be possible to cut taxes for the lowest earners, but it’s not possible with the current blunt system.
Lord Maurice Glasman: ‘They didn’t take my advice’
On Sky News, Labour peer Lord Maurice Glasman told Trevor Phillips that in early 2025 people in Washington D.C. had shown him many photos of Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein together, and he had warned Downing Street against Mandelson’s appointment, describing him as ‘the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time’. Glasman noted that Epstein has been a massive issue in the States that has fanned public distrust of the financial elites. Phillips asked who Glasman had sent his note to. Glasman said he had written to advisors Morgan McSweeney and Paul Ovenden, but they hadn’t taken his advice.
