The ganging up on Sir Keir Starmer over the Mandelson appointment took place as expected on Tuesday, as he faced an angry House of Commons with few willing to defend him. As for Sir Keir, he stuck with his story that he believed the vetting process was proper and that he had no reason to suspect otherwise. The Tories attacked him harshly, either by saying they didn’t believe him, or by calling him incompetent. One impolite Tory received wild cheers when he said to Starmer that “the problem is that you’re a liar!”
The Telegraph reports that the view of the Labour MPs is that the question is no longer “if” he will be forced out, but “when.” The problem remains that the list of potential Labour replacements is hardly inspiring. In the last days, Ed Miliband has been rising as the leading choice, though still with a minority of support from his party.
