Starmer refuses to resign as Prime Minister
Keir Starmer has insisted that he will not step down as Prime Minister, despite a number of scandals which have rocked his Cabinet and the Labour party over recent weeks.
Speaking in an interview with Channel 4 on Monday evening (15 September), Starmer was quizzed over his decision to sack US Ambassador Peter Mandelson over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer said that he had been angry with Mandelson for not revealing the full extent of his past relationship and that his staff could have done more to make him aware of all of the issues.
“In retrospect, it would have been better if I had been shown the details of the material before PMQs. If you’re asking me now, days on, would it be better if more of this material had been brought expressly to my attention? Then yes, it would have been. But I’m satisfied the team was doing what they could to get the answers out of Peter Mandelson that they needed.”
“I don’t particularly think anger helps here, but I feel let down. I feel that the process was gone through and now information has come to light which, had I known it at the time, I wouldn’t have appointed him.”
“Had I known the nature and extent of the relationship, I would have questioned and challenged the conviction. I’ve worked on violence against women for years, for girls, for many years. I know exactly how all this affects victims.”
Starmer also confirmed that he would not step down from his role to prevent a Reform-led government from taking charge.
“No, because I’m absolutely clear what the task is in front of me, we have a crossroads really in terms of the future of this country,” he said.
“We go forward with Labour for national renewal, a patriotic call about this country and taking this country forward, true patriotism or we have division and decline under Reform … and a country in which people feel that they’re not part of the country that we are, that is divisive.”
