Keir Starmer will struggle to go on after the latest Mandelson scandal
The Prime Minister tried to claim victimhood on Wednesday, but he cannot survive much longer
Sir Keir Starmer attempted to assume victimhood during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
He said that Lord Peter Mandelson had “betrayed our country” by leaking market sensitive information to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Prime Minister said Lord Mandelson “lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador, I regret appointing him”.
He added: “If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near government.”
But the Prime Minister admitted he knew about Lord Mandelson’s ongoing relationship with Epstein when he was appointed, saying it had come up in the official security vetting.
It is unclear just how much Sir Keir knew, but he decided to appoint the peer despite know he had remained friends with the globally notorious paedophile after his conviction.
The government has said it will release papers on his appointment - but only those which do not prejudice national security or international relations.
Anyone with a brain could see that making Lord Mandelson US ambassador was likely to cause problems.
He had been sacked twice from Tony Blair’s cabinet due to scandal and was close to Epstein.
If this had happened in isolation, Sir Keir may have been fine. But the Prime Minister was already on thin ice.
His government has been forced into several U-turns over failed policies such as the winter fuel payment and the two-child benefit cap.
Labour are dwindling in the polls and the government is extremely unpopular.
Things will get worse in the coming months as it will likely pass up its best opportunity to oust the SNP in well over a decade and will almost definitely lose power in Wales.
Sir Keir had bought extra time with a Budget that threw red meat to his backbenchers, but the goodwill that was gained is heading swiftly out of the window.
Time and time again the Prime Minister has shown himself to have poor judgement - and the end is near.
His two most likely successors - Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner - were in the chamber as Sir Keir answered questions on Wednesday afternoon.
Both looked pretty stern. Mr Streeting stared down the Tories opposite him, while Ms Rayner watched the PM carefully before spending a fair amount of the session messaging on her phone.
They both will be pretty sure that a contest is coming soon and know they are the contenders.
Reports have suggested the Prime Minister will end up giving his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney up as a “sacrificial lamb”.
But this will not be enough for Labour backbenchers or the public.
It would also cause a lot of resentment among Mr McSweeney’s allies in parliament - including his wife Hamilton and Clyde Valley MP Imogen Walker.
Most normal people do not know who Mr McSweeney is - or what he does - so his sacking would relieve very little pressure on the PM.
Sir Keir’s days are numbered because he has continuously made stupid decisions since becoming Prime Minister.
His successor will inherit a flailing government and a party that is fading in the polls.
But there is some solace: things can only get better.
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