Kemi Badenoch: Spineless Starmer has shown his true colours over Peter Mandelson
Keir Starmer is in office, not in power.
On Sunday night, with further allegations swirling around his relationship with the notorious convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Peter Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party.
Keir Starmer did not have the backbone to remove his membership. He let him quit. Apparently to spare Labour ‘further embarrassment’ – as if that were possible.
Even now, Starmer is refusing to justify exactly how and why he appointed Mandelson as Ambassador to Washington in 2024, with the full knowledge of the links between Mandelson and Epstein.
We know that Mandelson was appointed without the usual comprehensive vetting. This is seemingly because McSweeney, a long-time friend of Mandelson, wanted to ensure his pal got a plum job in government.
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Keir Starmer could have shown leadership, he could have been decisive and removed Mandelson himself, but he didn’t – again.
This is now a pattern. Every time a scandal erupts in Labour’s ranks, Starmer freezes. He hesitates. He dithers.
It is only when the pressure becomes unbearable that he moves. And even then, more often than not, someone moves for him.
Labour’s former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner jumped over her dodgy tax dealings before she was pushed.
Tulip Siddiq wasn’t sacked as the Treasury Minister after being embroiled in a family corruption scandal – she resigned.
And when it emerged that Transport Secretary Louise Haigh had a criminal conviction for a fraud offence, Starmer didn’t fire her. She simply walked away.
Different names. Same story. The Prime Minister cannot bring himself to act until events have overtaken him.
This speaks to Keir Starmer’s total lack of judgment.
It is completely unacceptable that the Prime Minister appointed Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington despite knowing about his links to Epstein.
Last year, when this scandal first erupted, I challenged the Prime Minister in the House of Commons on the appointment, and he told me he had ‘full confidence’ in Mandelson. Only when the pressure built up did Starmer finally act – days later.
But this weakness does not just stop at personnel decisions. It runs through everything this Prime Minister does.
Take the surrender of the Chagos Islands. Britain is in the process of giving away our sovereign territory, not because it is in our national interest, but because Starmer has caved in the face of a non-binding UN resolution.
This weakness will not just cost British taxpayers upwards of £35 billion, we are also losing control of a strategic national asset and setting a dangerous precedent that Britain can be bullied into surrendering our own territory.
Or consider the Prime Minister’s recent trip to China. To bag his visit to Beijing, Starmer waved through a Super Embassy in the heart of London near critical financial infrastructure and sensitive communications cables. This is not in our national interest.
Starmer is also allowing our veterans to be dragged through the courts because he wants to scrap Conservative legislation that protected those who served this country on the front line.
The result is a chilling effect on our troops today, who are left wondering whether split-second decisions made in combat will be picked apart years later by activist lawyers.
Notice the pattern: on security, on defence, on integrity in public life, the same flaw keeps appearing. Keir Starmer is not in control of events, events control him.
Our Prime Minister blows around like a plastic bag in the wind.
Britain does not need a lawyer endlessly weighing up how something might look to his legal friends. We need a leader who knows what the national interest is and is prepared to act on it.
That means protecting our sovereignty. It means standing by our allies and our veterans. It means prioritising the safety and security of our country over international fingerwaggers.
And it means holding Keir Starmer accountable for the scandal he presided over, putting the pressure on him to answer the question he is keen to avoid – why Mandelson was ever appointed.
The Conservatives are the only party with the plans, the team and the backbone to govern in an increasingly dangerous world.
I will always act in our national interest, because that is the only way we ensure a stronger economy and a stronger country.
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