Andy Burnham is sworn in as the MP for Makerfield hours after Keir Starmer announces his resignation as Labour Party leader
Archiv: House of Commons (UK) / legislative branch
Pressure on Starmer Mounts as Dozens of Labour Lawmakers Call on Him to Quit
Dozens of Labour Party lawmakers called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign on Monday, effectively rejecting their leaderâs efforts to quell a mutiny in the party ranks and raising the likelihood of a bruising leadership battle.
Mr. Starmer began the day with a speech he hoped would quiet the brewing rebellion, acknowledging the anger expressed by voters last week when they overwhelmingly rejected Labour Party candidates in elections across England, Scotland and Wales.
Starmer under pressure, as Labour suffers heavy elections losses
The results in England, Scotland and Wales have piled pressure on Sir Keir, with some Labour MPs calling for him to set a timetable for his departure, although his cabinet allies have backed him for now.
Labour has lost power in Wales, ending its 27 year-long rule, while the SNP appears likely to remain the largest party in Scotland.
Reform UK has been the big winner in England, picking up more than 1,400 seats and taking control of councils in areas where Labour and the Conservatives have been historically dominant.
No 10 bid for SECOND paedo-linked Labour ally to get ambassador role
He was later pushed on who had ordered him to look into getting Doyle a position, and who had ordered him not to tell the foreign secretary (which at the time was David Lammy).
Robbins said: âI don‘t know what the origin of the suggestion was, and I don‘t know who exactly was behind it or how serious it was.
âIt was serious enough for the No 10 private office to ring up the head of the diplomatic service and ask for a forward look of available head of mission jobs, and that‘s the point at which I thought that I needed to lay down some markers.â
Olly Robbins: I was asked to find job for Starmer aide and not tell David Lammy
Testifying to MPs at parliamentâs foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday, Olly Robbins said he had several conversations with No 10 about finding a role for Matthew Doyle, who was later suspended as a Labour peer after it emerged he had campaigned for a friend charged with possessing indecent images of children.
Robbins said he had been asked not to mention the idea to David Lammy, who was foreign secretary at the time.
Robbins described the conversations as part of more general pressure from people at the top of the government to place senior political figures in senior diplomatic posts.
Olly Robbins says he faced âconstant pressureâ to get Mandelson in post
Asked who in No 10 had applied pressure, he said it was mainly the prime ministerâs private office, which is staffed by civil servants. But he added: âI think that the private office would only have been [putting on] this pressure themselves if they were under pressure.â
Fired U.K. Official Describes âPressureâ From Starmerâs Office for Envoyâs Appointment
The former top civil servant in Britainâs foreign office, who was fired by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week, said on Tuesday that Mr. Starmerâs office had a âdismissive attitudeâ about the security vetting of Peter Mandelson, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein who became ambassador to the United States despite concerns raised during the vetting process.
The former civil servant, Olly Robbins, testified in Parliament that he and other officials in charge of deciding whether to grant Mr. Mandelson a high-level security clearance were working in âan atmosphere of pressureâ to ensure that nothing got in the way of Mr. Mandelsonâs appointment.
After the latest Mandelson revelations, Starmer needs to get a good lawyer. Wasnât he supposed to be one?
During the opposition years, his defenders countered that a stolid technocrat was exactly what the country needed. They sold the former head of the Crown Prosecution Service as the polar opposite of Boris Johnson, who was driven from Downing Street in part by Starmerâs own forensic questioning. If only Starmer had lived up to the billing of his detractors, reluctantly conceded by his allies, he wouldnât be in the hole he finds himself this weekend.
Instead, he now has to rely on a defence that is lawyerly in the worst sense of that word. To have knowingly misled parliament is, in political terms, a capital crime. So the PM has to proceed on two tracks, one for âknowinglyâ the other for âmisledâ.
Starmer sacks top Foreign Office official after Mandelson vetting revelations
The BBC understands Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper lost confidence in Sir Olly Robbins and was effectively sacked after a Guardian investigation revealed Mandelson had not been security cleared.
The PM is facing calls to resign amid claims he misled MPs when he told them „full due process“ had been followed.
Senior minister Darren Jones said Sir Keir had not been told of the vetting recommendation until Tuesday this week, had not misled MPs and would not be resigning.
Epstein-Fall, neue hochrangige RĂŒcktritte in England. Starmer unter Druck: âEr sollte zurĂŒcktreten.â
(April 16, 2026)
âEs ist unverzeihlich, dass kein Minister, nicht einmal Downing Street, informiert wurdeâ, kommentierte Premierminister Keir Starmer. Doch Starmer selbst geriet ins Visier der Opposition, die seinen RĂŒcktritt fordert. Der Chef von Downing Street scheint jedoch nicht zurĂŒcktreten zu wollen. âEr wird nicht zurĂŒcktretenâ, versicherte Starmers engster Vertrauter, Darren Jones.
Revealed: Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision
(Thu 16 Apr 2026 19.16 CEST)
In September, in a letter co-signed with foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, Robbins told MPs that âconducted to the usual standard set for developed vetting.
The Guardian understands that Robbins was told he had to resign after Starmer and Cooper lost confidence in the civil servant.
Mandelsonâs failure to secure vetting approval has not previously been publicly revealed, despite intense scrutiny over his appointment and the release by the government of 147 pages of documents supposed to shed light on the case.
Jeremy Corbyn bill demands MPs approve UK military action and use of bases
It reads: âBill to require parliamentary approval for the deployment of UK armed forces and military equipment for armed conflict; to require parliamentary approval for the granting of permission by ministers for use of UK military bases and equipment by other nations for armed conflict; to require the withdrawal of that permission in circumstances where parliamentary approval is not granted; to provide for certain exemptions from these requirements; to make provision for retrospective parliamentary approval in certain circumstances; and for connected purposes.â
Greens, Your Party and Labour backbenchers build anti-war alliance in parliament
(today)
The alliance is between the resurgent Green Party, the new left-wing Your Party, the parliamentary Independent Alliance of independent MPs and Labour backbenchers.
Jeremy Corbyn, former Labour leader and parliamentary leader of the new Your Party, on Thursday tabled a parliamentary bill with cross-party backing that would require parliament‘s approval for the foreign use of British military bases.
It comes in response to Prime Minister Keir Starmer‘s decision on Sunday night to allow the US to use UK military bases for the purpose of targeting Iranian missile sites.
Your Party under Corbyn to work with Greens on âcoordinated left-flank offensiveâ
(February 26, 2026)
A Jeremy Corbyn-led Your Party will work with the Green party and others to push for a âcoordinated left-flank offensiveâ against Reform and Labour, the Guardian understands.
After winning a comprehensive victory to become the de facto leader of the leftwing startup party on Thursday, Corbyn will seek to rebuild bridges with pro-Gaza communities âalienatedâ by his rival Zarah Sultana, sources close to Corbyn said.
New Green MP says ‚we can win anywhere‘ after by-election victory as Starmer vows to ‚keep fighting‘
New Green MP Hannah Spencer, a 34-year-old plumber, says „we can win anywhere“ – read her profile here
Labour hasn‘t lost in this area since 1931, and the Greens significantly outperformed expectations – read polling expert John Curtice‘s analysis on how this leaves British politics more uncertain than ever
Britainâs Rulers Have Been Partners in the Gaza Genocide
Tory and Labour governments in Britain have provided every conceivable form of support for Israelâs genocidal project in Gaza. Peter Oborne, an independent-minded conservative journalist, has now provided us with a definitive record of their complicity.
Complicit: Britainâs Role in the Destruction of Gaza
Fearless and forensic, this incendiary indictment from one of Britainâs most celebrated political journalists lays bare the full extent of British complicity in the destruction of Gaza.
In a gripping narrative informed by original reporting, Peter Oborne tells how Britainâs Conservative and Labour parties converged to back Israelâs criminal assaultâin the process occupying disturbing common ground with the far right.
Rather than challenge this political cartel, British media colluded in its misrepresentations. The shocking result was that, as British authorities helped Israel set Gaza as well as international law aflame, almost everything the public was told about this momentous conflagration was untrue.
When citizens still turned out in their hundreds of thousands to demand a ceasefire, roiling the nationâs politics as they stayed faithful to the ancient British tradition of popular protest in defence of liberty, the political-media machine bared its fangs. The investigative reporting in this book exposes the methods by which peaceful demonstrations were smeared as âhate marchesâ.
Formerly chief political commentator at the Daily Telegraph and Spectator, Oborne knows the British establishment from within. In this book he names names and provides receipts. His demand is accountabilityâfor atrocities, and their accomplices.
Hadash MK Ofer Cassif Meets Jeremy Corbyn
(November 15, 2025)
British MP Jeremy Corbyn (left) meets Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, Nov. 12, 2025 (Photo: Al Ittihad)
The Epstein storm could topple a world leader â but itâs not Trump
His premiership hung by a thread Thursday after a revolt by MPs in his Labour Party further damaged a 10 Downing Street operation staggering from crisis to crisis.
Starmer tried to clarify his earlier statement in parliament on Wednesday that he knew about the friendship between former Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson and Epstein â but still made him ambassador to Washington.
UK will release files related to Mandelson‘s appointment in more Epstein fallout
The move came after the opposition Conservative Party said it would force a vote in Parliament on Wednesday calling for the release of emails and other messages related to Mandelsonâs appointment in 2024. Critics say he should never have been given the job because his relationship with Epstein â though not its extent â was known at the time.
The government has agreed to release the requested information unless it is âprejudicial to U.K. national security or international relations.â Itâs unclear how much material will be released, or when.
Corbyn will be Your Party parliamentary leader if his slate wins CEC election, allies say
JEREMY CORBYN will be elected parliamentary leader for Your Party if his slate wins the central executive committee election next month, his allies say.
If the list of candidates headed by the former Labour Party leader, called The Many, clinch the nomination on February 26, Zarah Sultanaâs âparliamentary convenerâ model would not see the light of day.
Greenland takes pleas to UK parliament
(January 13, 2026)
Greenlandâs energy minister asked British lawmakers for help in the face of âbewilderingâ U.S. aggression.
LONDON â The U.K. government must âdare to have principlesâ and help Greenland repel threats from Donald Trump, a senior minister in Greenlandâs government told lawmakers in London.
More than 50 MPs and Peers have joined me in urging David Lammy to immediately meet with the lawyers of those on hunger strike. The government needs to wake up, take responsibility, and show some humanity before it is too late.
(December 16, 2025)
Letter to the Foreign Secretary urging this government to urgently pursue UN-led military intervention to stop genocide in Gaza.
In 1994, the world failed to stop genocide in Rwanda. In 1995, we failed in Sbrebrenica. Today, in Gaza, we are again being tested. We must act now!
British MPs urge UN-led military intervention to stop genocide in Gaza
Five British MPs have written to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urging the government to „urgently pursue UN-led military intervention“ to stop Israel‘s genocide in Gaza.
The letter by independent MP Adnan Hussain has been signed by three of his fellow members of the parliamentary Independent Alliance – Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohamed and Shockat Adam – as well as Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George.
Despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Israelâs President Herzog is due to visit the UK in the coming days. Today I joined @AndyMcDonaldMP & other MPs to ask the PM how this visit complies with UK obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
More than 60 MPs have just spoken out against Israeli president Isaac Herzogâs UK visit
More than 60 parliamentarians have written to the prime minister expressing their grave concern at reports that the Labour Party government is to welcome Israeli President Isaac Herzog on a visit to London from Tuesday 9 September.
In the letter, they stated that the UK, as a state party to the 1948 Genocide Convention, has a binding responsibility not only to refrain from committing genocide itself, but:
also to take active steps to prevent and punish genocide and incitement to it wherever it occurs. This obligation includes ensuring that individuals credibly implicated in the commission or incitement of such crimes are not afforded political legitimacy or hospitality by our government.
Francesca Albanese to contribute to Corbyn ‚Gaza tribunal‘ on UK complicity in genocide
Albanese‘s involvement was confirmed by Corbyn during an appearance by the veteran politician at a fringe event at the Edinburgh festival on Saturday.
The UN special rapporteur will be asked for comment on the use of RAF bases in Cyprus to help Israel‘s military.
Set to take place in September, the tribunal follows Corbyn‘s unsuccessful attempts to pass legislation in parliament for an independent public tribunal.
Those attempts were blocked by the ruling Labour party.
Letter urges Prime Minister to recall Parliament over Gaza emergency
(August 18, 2025)
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to recall Parliament to âimpose immediate sanctionsâ on Israel in a joint letter signed by politicians in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The letter urges the Prime Minister to âact nowâ to exert pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza.
It has been signed by Northern Irelandâs First Minister Michelle OâNeill, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long, SDLP leader Claire Hanna, the SNPâs Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and the convener of the partyâs Holyrood group Stuart McMillan.
Politicians sign letter urging PM to ‚act now‘ over Gaza
(August 19, 2025)
Parties joining in the SDLP-led letter include Sinn Féin, Alliance, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and People Before Profit.
The letter calls for Parliament to be recalled as well as urgent diplomatic intervention and an end to arms sales to Israel.
It is understood Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will respond to the letter in due course.
Starmers PalÀstina-Anerkennung schlÀgt Wellen
Letzte Woche prangerte der Tory-Abgeordnete Kit Malthouse die Regierung wegen ihrer âTatenlosigkeitâ und âFeigheitâ im Angesicht der israelischen KriegsfĂŒhrung an. Er fragte AuĂenminister David Lammy, ob er sich nicht bewusst sei, dass er aufgrund seiner UnterstĂŒtzung Israels âin Den Haag landen könnteâ â eine Anspielung auf den internationalen Strafgerichtshof.
Wenige Tage spĂ€ter unterzeichneten rund 220 Abgeordnete aus neun Parteien â 131 davon Labour â einen offenen Brief, in dem sie die Anerkennung PalĂ€stinas als Staat forderten.
Dear Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, Re. UK recognition of a Palestinian state
We write to you in advance of the UN Conference co-chaired by France and Saudi
Arabia on the 28th-29th July in New York, to put on record our support for UK recognition of a Palestinian state.
We are expectant that the outcome of the conference will be the UK Government
outlining when and how it will act on its long-standing commitment on a two-state solution; as well as how it will work with international partners to make this a reality.
Whilst we appreciate the UK does not have it in its power to bring about a free and independent Palestine, UK recognition would have a significant impact due to our historic connections and our membership on the UN Security Council, so we urge you to take this step.
British recognition of Palestine would be particularly powerful given its role as the author of the Balfour Declaration and the former Mandatory Power in Palestine. Since 1980 we have backed a two-state solution. Such a recognition would give that position substance as well as living up to a historic responsibility we have to the people under that Mandate.
More than 220 UK lawmakers urge PM to recognise Palestinian state
A letter sent to the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, urging him to recognise a Palestinian state and follow in France‘s footsteps, has been signed by 221 members of parliament thus far.
The MPs represent all four of the major parties in Britain: Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and the Scottish National Party.