To not believe Keir Starmer

[Viviennemary]

I'm sick of Keir Starmer's dodging over Peter Mandelson. He said he wasn't aware PM hadn't passed security vetting. He's been asked again and again about this. The knives are definitely out for him and I would be glad to see the back of him.

I live in Wales so have different options and zero loyalty to any party. Roll on next month when Labour loses power after somehow keeping it for over 25 years.

Still doesn’t change the fact that Starmer is acting shady as hell over the Mandleson thing either.

Grow up. And stop being so pompous and aggressive.

I believe Starmer didn’t know at the time, this isn’t his role to over see the vetting he is PM and has other work to do

but I do think Starmer has known for longer than he cares to admit the concerns around Mandelson

the whole situation has been handled very badly but I agree with previous poster this isn’t not the time for him to step down he has handled the US/Iran war very well

I suspect he will be forced to resign within the next year

mmm wondering who The Guardian are going to get behind

He didn't. He wasn't told about the failure. And now heads are rolling in the FCO, who made the decision to ignore the initial failure and hush it up.

Mandelson has got the dirt on them all. Just like Epstein had in America. Am not saying Starmer is in Epsteins league but anything dodgy then dear old Mandy will have it written down.

If the rent boy thing was true, he'd probably go up in my estimation.

That’s the story they’ve come up with, yes. Doesn’t mean it’s true. It also doesn’t absolve Starmer of the sheer incompetence of not asking the explicit question ‘has he passed security vetting’.

OMG you are an insufferable idiot. Will you please jog on and let the grown ups respond to OP?

Starmer and Labour aren't perfect but I still trust them to lead the country more than I trust the Tories, Greens or Reform, and the Lib Dems haven't said anything particularly insightful in the last few years to make me think they'd do a better job either.

To me Mandelson is just a distraction and I think we need to let Labour have a couple of uninterrupted years to have a go at addressing some of our country's long-term issues (whilst also firefighting crazy presidents and global wars) without trying to oust our leader every 5 minutes. Unless we want to go straight back to the 14+ years of Tory rule, or (even worse) Reform.

Aww out of all the prime ministers we’ve had since John major he’s the only one that seems decent. I think the problem with him is he’s been too scared to take any one real position on anything and now no one trusts a word he says

It’s the hypocrisy in the end, Labour always believe they are morally superior so their sins don’t matter.

He called for transparency in opposition

He called for accountability in opposition

He said they were the grown ups

SKS appointed Mandy over everyone else’s misgivings, he now has to proved he didn’t know something that he definitely did know.

Mandy had been sacked twice before - no seasoned lawyer and legal mind would ever think he could pass enhanced vetting.

I think KS will be gone by June.

Our country’s political psychodrama continues. If KS goes by June, how many PMs will we have had since 2016? Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak, Starmer… 6 in 10 years.

Clearly, he had very bloody good speechwriters! I loved the speech he gave at No 10 after he won the election and was really rooting for him. Now, not so much.

I’m a Labour voter but I’ve been so disappointed by them since they came in.

I know they've done some good stuff (removed the two child benefit cap, for instance) and inherited an awful economy and have had really difficult stuff to deal with in power (the economy, prisons crisis, immigration, NHS, foreign policy issues feat Mandelson/Ukraine/Trump), but getting rid of the Winter Fuel Allowance (edit: for people earning over £35k, when energy is still extremely expensive) and the freebie-accepting when they came into power was really badly judged.

On a more selfish note, my life hasn’t improved since they came in. I’m no better off now financially than I was before.

I disagree, I’m afraid.

He’s weak and a liar.

I really couldn’t care less. He’s gone so what does it matter. None of this compares to the daily shit show the tories ran. I have no idea why you’re so outraged.

Andy Burnham isn’t an MP, he can’t replace Starmer.

Why would they ‘hush it up’ anyway. It’s just another line some will buy. Agree with you and pp.

Angela Rayner

maybe he’s going to go after the may elections, the issue is who will take over, there is no one the public will accept. And we are years from an election, they aren’t doing a vote of no confidence, so Labour want to keep him. For now and likely till at least after the elections as it will be so bad.

so the issue I think is Labour has no one the public will accept as a majority and the party has made such a terrible, terrible mess of it, it’s a poison chalice. From the freebies to the removal of the benefit cap, to the not drilling in the North Sea, to mandelson and the lies. It’s an utter shit show of epic proportions.

so until you see a vote of no confidence, Labour is fully intent on keeping Starmer in position.

What about her, raynor the public won’t accept and she’s still under investigation due to her tax fraud.

I could literally go out in the street, pick the first random person and they would be better than him.

People keep claiming that Starmer is ‘moral’ and a ‘man of integrity’ but nothing he has done in getting to his position or while in his position actually bears this out.

All my life voting Labour so as not to have the Tories in power was the thing- the threat even! But while I would hate to see a Tory or Reform government, I struggle to see any positive reason to support Starmer or his party. They are going to be absolutely wiped out in May.

agree fully with this. Our press hates Starmer and people are just jumping on this but honestly he is the adult in the room we need right now. No to a chaotic leadership campaign, and no to Reform’s corruption or Polanski’s lack of grasp on economics. Yes to some stability to give the government a chance to carry out their manifesto and steer us through the Trump years without WW3 if that’s possible.

In the past we tolerated governments for a term at least to let them attempt things. Now we have a collective lack of attention span, a TikTok scrolling culture and a Prime next day mentality and expect change to happen instantly overnight. Well it doesn’t! Governing is HARD. They have made progress on things like the NHS, and net zero whilst being thwarted by Trump’s tariffs and his war and the dreadful legacy left behind.

Let’s wait out this term and see what they can do without the constant distractions fuelled by the Telegraph, Daily Mail et al. KS has his flaws but I don’t believe he’s a liar and I do believe he has integrity. He is standing up to Trump at last and finding his own voice now McSweeney has gone.