Whoever prospers Keir Starmer will still have an almost impossible job: convincing voters that politicians will certainly offer the people, not themselves
So, there goes Morgan McSweeney, leaving Keir Starmer much more revealed, and the British side of the substantial Jeffrey Epstein detraction still unraveling. The resignation note penciled by the head of state’s previous chief of team is as clear as it had to be, and recognizes that McSweeney advised Starmer to make one of the most eventful selection of his time as Labour leader. “The decision to assign Peter Mandelson was incorrect,” it states. “He has actually damaged our party, our nation and rely on national politics itself.” The vetting procedure for such choices, it takes place, “need to currently be essentially upgraded”. The crucial inquiry smolders on, and it has actually always been political rather than step-by-step: between late 2024 and very early 2025, despite recognizing that Mandelson had maintained his friendship with Epstein after the latter’s conviction for what United States law calls soliciting hooking from a small, why did McSweeney, Starmer and their internal circle still end that he was the appropriate guy to be the UK’s ambassador in Washington DC?There is a
very important contextual element of the tale, which started to surface at the end of last week, about the lack of alarm system– in both national politics and the media— at the visit at the time it was made, symptomatic of an amazing cumulative amnesia regarding information of the Mandelson/Epstein relationship that had actually been revealed. But nevertheless, that doesn’t interfere with the awfulness of what the prime minister and his individuals did, which rests at the heart of the story like an incurable frustration. They certainly know it, and so does every person else: presented with a due persistance report based upon a brilliant account of what Mandelson had been up to (much of which was popular anyway), they apparently took his rejections at face value. In spite of cautions on the contrary– from, we now listen to, the-then international secretary David Lammy and < a href=" https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-starmer-mandelson-scandal-khzgzjk03?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqfwIWl4UZaPkQ17LFVYfdQ2rQEu0rgbcAJzPvx3rN-8r98tRD4OpELvsmaUDhk%3D&gaa_ts=69885dd8&gaa_sig=ho85bNIbVPVIo-9R6ID_kPkOn-FBR0NNi5Qw8SsptG9DLpMd_V1nI3L0_rsrWrLFw5ERvlaJ1WLVIESRxqiQUA%3D%3D "> Starmer’s then-deputy Angela Rayner— they offered Mandelson exactly what he wanted.John Harris is a Guardian columnist
Source: The Guardian