Keir Starmer is facing mounting questions over his political judgment after he was forced to sack Peter Mandelson just hours after defending him.
The Prime Minister finally acted to remove the disgraced peer as ambassador to the United States amid a growing Labour revolt over his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The move came less than 24 hours after Sir Keir backed Lord Mandelson to the hilt – and just ten months after he brushed aside warnings that the appointment would end in disaster.
Labour MPs branded Sir Keir's handling of the episode a 'shambles'. And Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused the PM of 'dithering' over the decision for days and said there were now 'serious questions over what Starmer knew and when'.
Lord Mandelson's departure, following hard on the heels of Angela Rayner's resignation last week, caps a disastrous start to 'Phase Two' of the Labour government, which the PM said would be focused on 'delivery, delivery, delivery' after the party's difficult first year.
