Scottish Labour leader calls for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's resignation over ambassador's controversial ties
The leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar, has called on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to step down, citing damaging revelations about the man he appointed as the UK's ambassador in Washington. While describing Sir Keir as a "decent man," Sarwar emphasized that the situation at Downing Street was "not good enough" and could jeopardize Labour's prospects in the upcoming Scottish election in May.
Sir Keir's leadership faces its most significant challenge since leading Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024, following the release of the Epstein files, which included damaging claims about Peter Mandelson. Mandelson, who was selected by Sir Keir to be the UK's ambassador in Washington, was accused of passing sensitive government documents to Jeffrey Epstein and maintaining ties with the disgraced financier after his conviction.
Two senior advisors to Sir Keir have resigned within the last 24 hours due to the Mandelson revelations, including his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who is credited with engineering Labour's landslide win. At a press conference on Monday, Mr. Sarwar, who leads Labour in the Scottish Parliament, called on Sir Keir to quit, stating, "They promised they were going to be different, but too much has happened."
With elections for the Scottish Parliament scheduled for May, Mr. Sarwar argued that the chaos in Westminster was harming Labour's chances of removing the governing Scottish National Party from power. He emphasized, "We cannot allow the failures at the heart of Downing Street to mean the failures continue here in Scotland."
Mr. Sarwar also faced scrutiny over his own ties to Mr. Mandelson. In April last year, he described Mandelson as "my old friend and the UK’s (relatively!) new Ambassador to the US" in a post on X. However, during the press conference, he stated, "Mr. Mandelson is not someone or something I want to be associated with."
"I met him in his capacity as the ambassador or ambassador to the US, because that was the right thing to do in Scotland's interest," he explained. "But should he have been appointed the ambassador now? Should he be a member of the Labour Party? No."
Despite Mr. Sarwar's statement, a spokesperson for Mr. Starmer asserted that he had a "clear five-year mandate" from the British people and would continue his leadership. The spokesperson noted, "Keir Starmer is one of only four Labour leaders ever to have won a general election. He has a clear five-year mandate from the British people to deliver change, and that is what he will do."
Deputy British Prime Minister David Lammy expressed support for Mr. Starmer on X, stating, "Keir Starmer won a massive mandate 18 months ago, for five years to deliver on Labour’s manifesto that we all stood on."
Other cabinet members, including Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Housing Secretary Steve Reed, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Darren Jones, also issued statements supporting Sir Keir during the same press conference as Mr. Sarwar's.
