Sir Keir Starmer is expected to address a mass meeting of his party’s backbench MPs tomorrow night as he battles to save his premiership, GB News understands.
The Prime Minister is expected to address concerns about the state of his leadership at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
It follows the resignation of Morgan McSweeney as the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff after coming under fire in the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal.
GB News understands Sir Keir and Mr McSweeney had decided it was the right time to move on, but the Government’s policy agenda and commitment to its economic strategy has not changed.
One senior Labour MP told GB News: “Starmer has to come out fighting and do what needs to be done to cleanse politics. This includes people around him.
“The sterile test has to be ‘do they have Peter Mandelson’s phone number in their contacts?’ The clock is ticking, this has to be announced and implemented immediately.”
It follows reports the Prime Minister is set to give an address to the nation as soon as tomorrow as he hopes to move on from a week of bad news.
A senior Downing Street source told The Telegraph: “The Prime Minister recognises the need for government to address the issues highlighted by the Mandelson revelations. Work began last week on this. The Prime Minister has instructed officials to move at pace to deliver change. He hopes to update the country as early as tomorrow.”
Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire over the appointment of Lord Mandelson
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REUTERS
Reacting to the departure of Mr McSweeney, Labour MP for York Central Rachael Maskell said: “It is a start, but we need to know how decisions have been made in the Labour Party.
“[This includes] the role of Peter Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney’s ‘kitchen cabinet’, and how this whole culture will turn away from the factionalism to an inclusive culture which seeks to listen and engage MPs and prevent future errors over policy.”
It has been reported that Mr McSweeney convened a “kitchen cabinet” of Labour figures, including Lord Mandelson, for dinners at the house of Labour grandee Lord Liddle when the party was in opposition.
Morgan McSweeney joined the Labour Party in 1997 | GETTY
Labour MP for Rugby John Slinger backed the Prime Minister and rejected calls for him to follow Morgan McSweeney out of the door.
He said: “I have been speaking publicly about how Labour should rally behind the Prime Minister, how we don’t ditch a leader just because the going gets tough, and how it’s in the national interest for Keir Starmer to stay as Prime Minister.
“Since I’ve done that, I have been approached in the street by constituents telling me they heard me on the radio and totally agree. I have had CEOs of companies message me to say they agree.
“I have had people from all around the country, whether Labour or not, saying they think the last thing the country needs is leadership speculations and that we should support the Prime Minister.”
Ian Byrne has called on the Prime Minister to resign
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GETTYHowever, other Labour MPs have called on the Prime Minister to resign after today’s bombshell announcement.
Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne said: “This will not stop with a single resignation. A true change in political direction must now come from, and be led from, the very top.
“The Prime Minister must now reflect honestly on his own position and ask whether, for the good of the country and the Labour Party, he should follow McSweeney’s lead.”
Another MP added that Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham “ought to be talking right now in order to develop an idea for an orderly transition process in the late spring.”
