Yesterday was one of the most momentous days in British politics since the Profumo crisis in 1963, more than sixty years ago, when Profumo was caught lying to the House of Commons over his affair with Christine Keeler, a mistress shared with a Russian attaché, and which occasioned him resigning in disgrace. This is all of the sequelae to the Mandelson affair where it has become apparent that Mandelson, whilst in the Cabinet, shared state secrets with the disgraced paedophile Jeffry Epstein. Keir Starmer promised a full explanation to the House of Commons how Mandelson ever came to be appointed to be the British ambassador to the USA in the first place. I now rely upon the excellent summary provided by Beth Rigby in Sky News because her summary of events is masterful. There’s no understating it – the Mandelson scandal has become into a full-blown political crisis for the government, with the prime minister once again in a precarious position. Anger among Labour MPs is palpable. They are angry over Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US – despite admitting yesterday he was aware of Lord Mandelson’s ongoing association with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. But Labour backbenchers are also furious at the government’s attempt to prevent some files being released on national security grounds – as well as files that might embarrass its relationship with the White House. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused the prime minister of a ‘cover up’. As yesterday afternoon wore on, it became clear that it was not going to wash with Labour MPs – and in a climbdown for the government, a compromise was broken, with files referred to parliament’s independent Intelligence and Security Committee, who will decide which files to redact. It was the PM’s own former deputy, Angela Rayner, who led the calls for this change. And some other files will be delayed, after the police asked the government not to release anything that could prejudice their investigation into Lord Mandelson. The absolute root of the problem is the whole question of political judgement and that is fuelling calls for Keir Starmer to be replaced – it is already being said that he is ‘toast’ and many feel his days are numbered. Although the political dictum is that ‘advisers advise but ministers decide’ it is undoubtedly the case that Starmer did not heed the warnings that Mandelson might prove to be a troublesome choice as ambassador – after all, he had been sacked twice before from Labour cabinets but no doubt felt that he could bounce back from any adversity. But on this occasion, his disgrace is so absolute that he will become a non-person, politically. So as well as what turns out to be appalling judgement in appointing Mandelson in the first place, under intense and quite forensic questioning by Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, Starmer was forced to eventually admit that he knew of the association of Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein even after the latter was shown to be a convicted paedophile. Upon this admission, there was an audible gasp from the back bench Labour MPs who deserted their PM almost to a man and the government was forced by back bench pressure to abandon an amendment which meant that some information would not be supplied to the whole House of Commons on security grounds. Instead the House of Commons insisted that a full disclosure should be made but sensitive security information only given to the Intelligence and Security Committee and not the whole House. The whole point here is that once a Prime Minister has lost trust n such na spectacular scale, it is very hard to regain it. By jetting off around the world, Keir Starmer may have built up credit with other world leaders but he has neglected his own back yard to his peril (and, incidentally, this can happen when one’s majority is too large)
The weather yesterday was blustery with freezing rain and altogether unpleasant to be out. The principal appointment I had in the middle of the day was a dental appointment where one filling needed to be replaced (as it had dropped out) and a further two renovated in some way. But I was so shocked at what I was charged that I feel impelled to call the dentist to see if I have charged the correct price or not. The actual quality of the treatment received has been excellent and, as the years have progressed, I feel that the anaesthetics involved have improved dramatically. One used to be left with a numb one half of the mouth for several hours and then normal sensation gradually returned but nowadays the actual side effects appear to be minimal. I have been instructed to only eat out of one side of my mouth for the next day which is understandable as amalgams have to gradually harden but today that was quite easy to arrange as I lunched on sone quiche with a stir-fry mix of onions, peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms which was quite a sloppy consistency and did not require any real chewing.
Viewing of the newscasts this afternoon confirms that the fate of Keir Starmer lies in the balance. The opposition parties evidently relish in their attacks on a ‘wounded’ prime minister but it might be the case that sheer Machiavellian politics takes over and the opposition parties might privately wish for a wounded and disabled prime minister to remain in place as a more beatable opponent in the May elections – and the general election which is still years off. Even the deeply unhappy Labour MPs have no real desire or stomach for a leadership contest at this particular time so it might be that Keir Starmer limps on as a diminished figure with no real authority over his troops any more until such time as the parliamentary party thinks he needs to be replaced as party leader. I am always conscious of the famous remark attributed to one of Napoleon’s generals who was questioned about loyalty to his leader. His reply was to the effect that ‘I will be loyal to my Leader to the end – until the time is ripe for treachery’ and the same sentiment is probably abroad in the current Labour Party where the mood is said to be like a tinderbox and a rebellion on almost any issue quite likely.