Cabinet backs Starmer after Sarwar calls on him to quit

CABINET ministers have rallied around Keir Starmer after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on the prime minister to quit.

At a press conference, Sarwar said the situation in Downing Street was “not good enough” and that “too many mistakes” had been made at the top of government.

As Sarwar spoke, senior Labour ministers posted messages supporting Starmer. The prime minister has faced growing pressure after his judgement was questioned over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US, despite Mandelson’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told BBC Breakfast the party had “looked over the precipice” on Monday but “thought the right thing to do was to support our leader”. Miliband said cabinet ministers had considered the “alternatives of going down this road of a chaotic leadership election” and decided “that’s not for us”.

On Monday evening, Starmer addressed a packed meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party in the Houses of Parliament, where he was greeted with applause. He told MPs he would not step down, saying: “Every fight I’ve been in, I have won.”

He added: “But I’ll tell you this, after having fought so hard for the chance to change our country, I’m not prepared to walk away from my mandate and my responsibility to my country, or to plunge us into chaos, as others have done.”

Former minister Justin Madders said after the meeting: “I don’t think there was any sense in that room that night that people want a change in prime minister.” However, sources told the BBC there were critical questions from MPs.

At the same time, Health Secretary Wes Streeting published messages between himself and Mandelson, saying it was to dispel a “weekend of smear and innuendo that I have something to hide”.

Around half a dozen Labour backbench MPs have called for Starmer’s resignation. In the past two days, two senior advisers left No 10. Morgan McSweeney resigned as chief of staff, saying he took “full responsibility” for advising the prime minister to appoint Mandelson.

Sarwar said his decision was “not easy and not without pain”, describing Starmer as a “decent man” but saying his “first loyalty” was to Scotland.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the public had given “Keir a huge mandate only 18 months ago”, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the resignation was “yet another sign that Keir Starmer has lost control of his government”.