Sir Keir Starmer made the “biggest mistake of his life” by appointing Lord Peter Mandelson to the plum US ambassador role, a prominent Labor backbencher has said. Jo White, who chairs the Red Wall group of Labor MPs, said the government must “cleanse” itself of the problems that have emerged from the vetting scandal.
It comes as two Labor MPs have broken ranks to call for the Prime Minister to quit, along with opposition parties. Sir Keir is facing fresh pressure after it emerged Lord Mandelson was appointed as British ambassador to the US despite failing security vetting.
Asked if she agreed with calls for Sir Keir to resign, Ms White told GB News: “Obviously, I've heard these conversations on the sidelines.
“I've been out and about in my constituency, speaking to local residents, and nobody has said to me they think it's time for Keir Starmer to go.
“They obviously expressed concerns about exactly what happened and the way we are now.
“But people have said to me, there's a big job of work to be done, and their focus is on sorting out the cost-of-living crisis, and I met with the Red Wall group with Sir Keir yesterday, and our discussion wasn't about Peter Mandelson.
“Our focus was on re-building industry and growth in our constituencies.”
She added: “He's made the biggest mistake of his life.
“He's admitted that, and I think that the biggest thing he has to do is re-iterate his commitment to clean up our politics, because we can only re-build trust if we cleanse ourselves of the problems.”
The PM earlier accused his opponents of making politically motivated allegations when asked about calls for him to go.
Speaking during a visit to Newcastle, Sir Keir said: “Last week, my political opponents were saying that there's no way a civil servant wouldn't have told me about the outcome of a developed vetting security exercise.
“Turns out my political opponents were completely wrong about that.
“Then they said that I was dishonest. It turns out they were completely wrong about that.
“They are now putting any allegation they can and I will tell you why – they are opposed politically to what this government is trying to achieve.”