Top aide’s resignation may buy PM time, but coming weeks bring events that could yet end his time in office
Keir Starmer and his supporters will be hoping the resignation of Morgan McSweeney can buy him some time. But in the coming days and weeks the prime minister has to negotiate a series of ominous hurdles, any of which could end his time in office.
The release of documents on Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador are expected to include embarrassing personal messages between ministers, advisers and the disgraced peer. This is especially so now the decision is out of the control of No 10.
In a vain attempt to take the sting out of the fury about Mandelson’s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, last Wednesday Starmer agreed to release these documents. But his proposal that No 10 would control the process threatened a backbench rebellion. Instead, in a sign of Starmer’s weakness, the cross-party intelligence and security committee will decide what gets released.
It is unclear how long the committee will take to decide what gets released, but the first documents could emerge in coming days.
