(Donald Macintyre – Politico) It’s become commonplace in London to say the scandal surrounding former ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson, which is so profoundly threatening Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership, is the worst since the 1963 Profumo affair — when the then-Secretary of State for War was found to be sharing a lover with a Soviet spy. And the situation’s escalated even further, now that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sawar has called for Starmer to go. Indeed, there are striking similarities between the two cases: In 1963, the already-weakened premiership of Harold Macmillan was damaged to the extent that some of his own MPs were calling for him to go — just as is the case with Starmer. And much like Profumo had lied about his fatal association, Starmer said Mandelson did the same when it came to the depth of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer still needs to explain why he went ahead with Mandelson’s appointment – POLITICO
