Starmer has addressed No10 staff this morning to insist (kind of) that he won’t resign:
“The thing that makes me most angry is the undermining of the belief that politics can be a force for good and can change lives. I have been absolutely clear that I regret the decision that I made to appoint Peter Mandelson. And I’ve apologised to the victims which is the right thing to do…
I’ve known Morgan for eight years as a colleague and as a friend. We have run up and down every political football pitch that is across the country. We’ve been in every battle that we needed to be in together. Fighting that battle.
We changed the Labour Party together. We won a general election together. And none of that would have been possible without Morgan McSweeney. His dedication, his commitment and his loyalty to our party and our country was second to none. And I want to thank him for his service…
In just a few months, we start the work of lifting half a million children out of poverty. A massive thing to do in this country because that means that lives will be changed. For decades to come, children who otherwise wouldn’t have fair chance and fair opportunity. Poverty holds children back like nothing else on earth.
And so getting rid of child poverty opens up opportunities for so many. We must prove that politics can be a force for good. I believe it can. I believe it is. We go forward from here. We go with confidence as we continue changing the country.”
Bookmark it folks…
Speaking about Morgan McSweeney’s resignation, skills minister Jacqui Smith told Times Radio:
“It’s clearly not ideal but I do understand why Morgan, as he explained, decided to resign at this point. But the important thing as you say is how we both tackle what this Epstein and Mandelson scandal has identified and also how we make sure, as the prime minister is absolutely determined to, that we continue the change that the country needs and that’s what I’m focusing on this morning.”