𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Incompetent or a liar. Those are the two damning charges being laid against Sir Keir Starmer as the Peter Mandelson scandal continues to destroy his carefully created public image. As a former director of public prosecutions, the Prime Minister should know all there is to know about having a solid defence. His is completely shot to pieces.

He has thrown fall guy after fall guy after fall guy under the bus to save his own skin. All he has to offer now is to plead ignorance, claiming that he was unaware his former US ambassador had initially failed his security vetting. But if Sir Keir is found to have misled the public and Parliament over Mandelson’s appointment, it surely is game over.

Kemi Badenoch has accused him of treating the public like fools and says that all roads now lead to resignation. It really is hard to see a way out for the Labour leader now. His future demise is now a case of when, not if.

What has been stark is the lack of support from his Cabinet. When the PM’s back was against the wall over the same scandal in February, his top team trudged out one by one in support of him. This time around, barring flunkey Darren Jones, there was nothing, nada, niet.

There were rumblings from backbenchers but the overriding feeling is that everyone is keeping their powder dry until after May’s local, Welsh and Scottish elections. Labour face an historic pummelling at the dispatch box, after which Starmer will be a Lamb to the Slaughter.

But there is still an obvious lack of a successor. Angela Rayner isn’t yet over the tax scandal that saw her sacked last year while Wes Streeting is tarnished by his links to Mandelson. Andy Burnham, the Manchester Mayor and another wannabe leader, isn’t an MP.

There is no sign the Mandelson saga will end any time soon and the public are now reaching the tipping point at which they have had enough too.