[Youngian]

I hope Starmer survives, but I think he may have used up all his political lives. Kreuzy has summed it up well: a decent man in a now-indecent world. Announcement over the weekend? Hope not.

Competent technocrat with integrity is Starmer's USP and a Labour PM doesn't get many free passes.
For those of us politically engaged we're
desperately interested in policy that betters lives so dull competence that delivers is all we ask for in a leader. But that's not enough for most people and maybe it never was. Harold Wilson and Ken Livingstone for eg were nerdy policy wonks who had to invent a cheeky chappy persona to get their hands on power to carry out their real passions. Like reorganising bus routes and centralising supply chains in the manufacturing sector. See also Ed Miliband but he's given up trying to be one of the lads and now just gets on with his mission. And bollocks to you all if you don't like it. Carry on Ed.

[Spoonman]

In news that doesn't involve P**er M**delson, the UK has quietly regained its position as the 5th largest economy in the world.

(Indian focused website) - https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/busin ... 4.html/amp

[Tubby Isaacs]

One of the more sympathetic posters on The Guardian suggests a scenario. While failing vetting sounds like it must be something like "chummy is a Soviet agent", it could have been something fairly trivial where the Foreign Office thought that they were exceeding their authority a bit, so overruled. Number 10 are very clear that the Foreign Office didn't tell them, and you'd think Ollie Robbins and the rest of them would push back against them if it wasn't true. Maybe they will in the Select Committee. The choice of words used by Cooper and Robbins earlier look like they were contrived to conceal. Did Cooper know about it, or was that just what was drafted for her?

[Abernathy]

Keir Starmer has been easily the best Prime Minister that the UK has had for at least twenty years. He has been quite brilliant on the international stage in absolutely turbulent times - Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Trump. He has also (IMO) been very good on domestic policy - a few mis-steps such as the winter fuel payment for pensioners aside - in what must be the most difficult set of circumstances that any new Prime Minister has inherited from the previous government -ever. As we speak, he is co-hosting, with Emmanuel Macron in France, a summit of European leaders about getting the strait of Hormuz re-opened, and is steadily bringing the UK back closer to the EU (yesterday we re-joined the Erasmus student exchange scheme) and rectifying the damage done by Brexit.

If he is brought down by the Mandelson shite and forced to resign, that will, in my view, represent a political catastrophe, and a disaster for the country. There is no obvious successor as PM to Keir Starmer, and the very last thing the country needs right now is a drawn-out (these are always drawn-out) Labour contest to find a new PM.

Time to draw the wagons around Sir Keir, to misquote a tousle-haired fat prick.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The Lib Dems gave a moderate response yesterday, of the "if he has lied to Parliament, then..." kind. Obviously that was then, this is now. Here they go today, with absurd hyperbole.

What breach of ministerial code? Not immediately revealing something to Parliament? There are, you know, a few other important events going on in the world. I hope Laurie Magnus laughs this out of town.

The Prime Minister failed to tell Parliament that he knew Mandelson had been denied vetting on Wednesday, presumably crossing his fingers and hoping the truth would not come out. What a shameful way for a Prime Minister to behave.
To stand in front of the dispatch box and deny Parliament such crucial information looks like a serious breach of ministerial code. That’s why I’ve written to the ethics adviser to report this breach and ask him to investigate at the earliest opportunity.
Starmer made catastrophic errors of judgment from the very beginning of the Mandelson scandal and it seems he has just kept on making them. His position is now untenable.

[Oboogie]

Keir Starmer has been easily the best Prime Minister that the UK has had for at least twenty years. He has been quite brilliant on the international stage in absolutely turbulent times - Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Trump. He has also (IMO) been very good on domestic policy - a few mis-steps such as the winter fuel payment for pensioners aside - in what must be the most difficult set of circumstances that any new Prime Minister has inherited from the previous government -ever. As we speak, he is co-hosting, with Emmanuel Macron in France, a summit of European leaders about getting the strait of Hormuz re-opened, and is steadily bringing the UK back closer to the EU (yesterday we re-joined the Erasmus student exchange scheme) and rectifying the damage done by Brexit.

If he is brought down by the Mandelson shite and forced to resign, that will, in my view, represent a political catastrophe, and a disaster for the country. There is no obvious successor as PM to Keir Starmer, and the very last thing the country needs right now is a drawn-out (these are always drawn-out) Labour contest to find a new PM.

Time to draw the wagons around Sir Keir, to misquote a tousle-haired fat prick.

Agree with all of that. I'd add the question which MP would be better leader to steer us through the current crisis - not just Iran but the ongoing crisis that is the Trump presidency?
It's my betting that Labour will not be allowed to simply switch PMs Tory style and an election will be forced, bottom line is, if Starmer goes, Farage will be PM by Christmas.

[Youngian]

Daz is quick on his feet in a tough spot. 'No need to thank me, prime minister,' Jones added.

Good to hear from Darren Jones this morning that this extraordinary procedure allowing some departments to overrule security vettings and not tell ministers has been stopped with immediate effect.

[Oboogie]

Daz is quick on his feet in a tough spot. 'No need to thank me, prime minister,' Jones added.

Good to hear from Darren Jones this morning that this extraordinary procedure allowing some departments to overrule security vettings and not tell ministers has been stopped with immediate effect.

Darren Jones is definitely my pick for future Labour leader, he leaves all other contenders standing.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This does seem an extraordinary thing to have been standard procedure. There's not going to be any shortage of ex-Foreign Office people or indeed ex-Foreign Secretaries to contradict Darren Jones on this, if it's not true. We'll see.

[Youngian]

This does seem an extraordinary thing to have been standard procedure. There's not going to be any shortage of ex-Foreign Office people or indeed ex-Foreign Secretaries to contradict Darren Jones on this, if it's not true. We'll see.

A four year public enquiry (that no minister will wish to pre-empt) will get to the bottom of it.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Seems like it's definitely true.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Either Robbins is taking one for the team massively, or this should be the end of this.

Are the Lib Dems really going with "resign for shamefully not telling Parliament within a couple of days"?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Who said this?

It’s just not possible that No 10 didn’t know. And I think to try and pretend No 10 didn’t know, when anybody who follows those issues would know that that can’t be true, is the kind of thing that undermines people’s faith in politics.

Some old government hand, who knows all about the procedures?

No, it's Diane Abbot. She has no idea what the procedures are or aren't. Pure self-publicism to get out a PM who kicked her out for being a massive anti-Semite.

[Samanfur]

From Bloomberg:

[Tubby Isaacs]

I think Starmer is unsafe, unless Robbins talks about pressure being put on him to make sure it went through.

Robbins would seem to have been unfairly removed, if this was an established rule. I think he'll be consulting his learned friends.

[mattomac]

Strait of Hormuz is a gift that keeps giving mind