Mister Basil

Starmer has lost the civil service, 'now only Labour MPs can save the country' 🚨REVEALED: the gushing texts to Mandelson 🚨Robbins' payoff to top £1m of taxpayers' money 🚨OFFICIALS: Why Starmer is worse than Boris 🚨'He’s a shitweasel whose sole political talent is blaming others for his own failings' 🚨Ex-colleague on Cat Little: 'I wouldn’t use her to prop open a door, unless I definitely wanted the door to shut' spectator.com/article/its-wo…

Keir Starmer state of play tonight: A brutal 48 hours leaves the PM weaker than ever, but he stays for now. Process aside, Labour MPs are ultimately weighing the bigger question: is the disastrous appointment of Peter Mandelson reason enough to cost Starmer his job and plunge Britain into a new period of political chaos? Most Labour MPs, ministers and aides who spoke to Bloomberg say they don’t think there will be a move against Starmer before May 7. But they warn the scandal increases the chance of a challenge afterwards and sinks his hopes of using Iran to rejuvenate his premiership. One MP says the events of this week leave Starmer suspended above an elephant trap. There has been no knockout blow, yet, though any further revelations could deliver one, they say. The government is concerned that fresh Mandelson developments could emerge in the coming days and weeks which might push Starmer over the edge. Another tranche of internal documents is expected to be published after the local elections at the moment of maximum danger. However, another MP argues that while the Robbins’ testimony was damning, the facts surrounding Mandelson’s vetting remain extremely complicated and too messy to be used as a reason to move against him. While there is no doubt Starmer made a terrible political error in appointing Mandelson, after the last two days it isn’t clear cut who between No10 and Robbins is right when it comes to his vetting, they say. And then there is the crucial problem of timing. Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner don’t want to blow up the government two weeks before Labour councillors try to keep their seats, MPs say. Rayner backs Starmer tonight, saying there are “more important questions” than the Mandelson process row. Allies suggest she does not want to be the one who wields the knife and she still hasn’t resolved her tax problems. Supporters of Streeting on the right of the Labour Party are wary that Rayner would likely be the favourite in a contest right now, perhaps dissuading him from moving. And some MPs on the left prefer Andy Burnham as their choice of successor to Rayner, meaning they are inclined to wait until he gets to Parliament. No-one is confident they’d get the successor they want and everyone fears a messy and protracted contest, one of the MPs says. So despite the Mandelson mess, Starmer stays for now. With @Joe_Mayes bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Interesting development which helps explain why @EmilyThornberry challenged Sir Olly Robbins with such certainty over his claim that Lord Mandelson had not failed his security vetting. MPs on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee were given a briefing in person by senior cabinet office officials in Parliament at 6.00pm last night. The MPs were shown the standard vetting assessment form with green, amber and red boxes. They were told that the red box was ticked on the Mandelson form. Robbins said he had not seen that form. But he said he was told that vetting officials at the cabinet office UKSV division were leaning towards saying no. The foreign office vetting official, he said, recommended to him that they could mitigate this. MPs tell me that the briefing led by cabinet office permanent secretary Cat Little and a senior National Security Council official was helpful. But I’ve heard some voice fears that the cabinet office may have been trying to “railroad” the committee.