Last chance, Keir? MPs in despair as crisis engulfs Downing Street
The debacle of last summer, when Keir Starmer caved in over welfare changes after promised concessions failed to convince his mutinous backbenchers, was viewed as a low point for his government,Now, amazingly, it has happened all over again,If the repetition of history was not already enough, with the ructions over releasing government documents about Peter Mandelson, once again Starmer has a certain Angela Rayner to thank, in part, for digging him out of a political hole,With welfare reform it was the then-deputy prime minister who bluntly told Downing Street that their offering to Labour MPs was not enough to prevent a likely Commons defeat, prompting No 10 to drop the bulk of the plans,On Wednesday, Rayner was a key voice advocating that the intelligence and security committee (ISC) should vet the Mandelson files, not No 10, a decision eventually adopted by the government in its amendment to a Conservative motion.
To add to the parallels, another leading figure to push for the ISC compromise was Meg Hillier, senior Labour backbencher and one of the leaders of the welfare rebellion.There are differences.The welfare plans were months in the making, and a key plank of the government’s programme.The chaos over what Starmer did or did not know about Mandelson before making him ambassador to Washington was, instead, a result of US authorities releasing new files about Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.But the consequences are the same: a weakened Downing Street, and Labour MPs increasingly aware of both their own power and the sheer fallibility of Starmer and the team around him.
And as with welfare, this is a crisis delayed, not removed,While MPs’ emotions can often be as infectious and overwrought as a boarding school in exam season, the reaction among many Labour backbenchers to No 10’s misjudgment over Mandelson was genuinely furious, a mood not helped by the obvious glee and success with which the Conservatives seized on the issue,It was the Tories’ decision to use one of their intermittent opposition day debates to seek the release of documents setting out Mandelson’s appointment that triggered Wednesday’s drama,For well-functioning governments, opposition day debates are an irrelevance,For those with their backs to the wall they can be treacherous – it was the chaotic response to a fairly standard Labour motion on fracking that toppled Liz Truss.
And after the concessions, backbenchers will want action: a swift and comprehensive release of the Mandelson chronology, one that some MPs will hope is sufficiently damning to spell the end of Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, Mandelson’s main advocate inside No 10.This is, however, a complicated process, in part because of a now-ongoing police investigation into whether Mandelson passed on insider information to Epstein, an inquiry Starmer warned cannot be prejudiced.Similarly, if MPs are hoping for a full rundown of how Mandelson was vetted for the job, they will be disappointed, given that the release of even slightly personal information about him would breach data protection rules.Downing Street will hope that, in a common tactic for beleaguered governments, boring procedure will take the urgency out of the debate, as the ISC pores over a mass of documentation, deciding what can or cannot be released.This is, however, just a temporary solution to a symptom of what pretty much all Labour backbenchers now view as a wider malaise: the sheer inability of Starmer and his team to regularly make the right call.
A prime minister with better political judgment, they argue, would have ignored the calls to send a man with a long history of controversies and known Epstein links to the Donald Trump court, and either stuck with the highly successful incumbent, career diplomat Karen Pierce, or seek a like-for-like replacement.Starmer did not, and thus spent prime minister’s questions being hounded by Kemi Badenoch until he finally accepted that yes, he did know the extent and longevity of Mandelson’s ties to Epstein when he offered him one of the most prestigious jobs in the public arena.And now we have another U-turn, Badenoch claiming a victory, and a cheery-looking Rayner holding court in a Commons corridor.The bulk of Starmer’s MPs, meanwhile, are left wondering how many more chances he can get.
‘Pain is a violent lover’: Daisy Lafarge on the paintings she made when floored with agony
Daisy Lafarge was lying on the floor in excruciating pain when she started her latest paintings. A severe injury, coupled with a sudden worsening of her health, had left her unable to sit upright, while brain fog and fatigue made reading and writing impossible. So the award-winning novelist and poet fell back on her art school training, using the energy and materials she had to hand to create impressionistic paintings of her surroundings – her cat Uisce, her boyfriend’s PlayStation controller – alongside unsettling imagery of enclosed gardens and flowers decaying.“Making the paintings was a way of coexisting with pain,” says the 34-year-old. “I was on my living room floor in agony for a few hours, but I wanted to get something out of that time
From Dorset to the world: wave of donations helps to secure Cerne giant’s home
It feels like a very British monument: a huge chalk figure carved into a steep Dorset hillside that for centuries has intrigued lovers of English folklore and legend. But an appeal to raise money to help protect the Cerne giant – and the wildlife that shares the landscape it towers over – has shown that its allure stretches far beyond the UK.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more
‘We put a stink bomb in Stephen Fry’s shoe’: Vic and Bob on the inspired idiocy of Shooting Stars
‘Christians complained about the stuffed buzzard wearing a crucifix round its neck. Birds can’t be Christians, they said. It’s the most complaints we ever got’The first time I saw what was to become Shooting Stars was Vic Reeves – AKA Jim Moir – doing The Big Quiz during Vic Reeves Big Night Out live. I’d never seen anything like it. It was full of meaningless questions and had an attitude
Sydney Biennale 2026: Hoor Al Qasimi unveils expansive program for 25th edition
The Biennale of Sydney has revealed the final lineup details for its 25th edition, scheduled to open mid-March across five key venues, including White Bay Power Station, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Penrith Regional Gallery.Featuring 83 artists, collaborations and collectives from 37 countries including Australia, the 25th Biennale of Sydney is titled “Rememory” – after the term coined by author Toni Morrison – and will “[explore] the intersection of memory and history as a means of revisiting, reconstructing, and reclaiming histories”.It represents the vision of artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi, the first Arab appointed to the role and the eighth woman in the festival’s 53-year history.Highlights announced on Tuesday include a giant functioning clay oven at White Bay Power Station in Rozelle, created by Argentinian sculptor Gabriel Chaile, which will be activated for the Biennale’s opening weekend and at key moments through the festival to serve visitors Peruvian cuisine. Also for food lovers is a large vat of tabbouleh, created by Lebanese artist Mounira Al Solh as part of a community-based performance in Granville
Meryl Streep is as withering as ever in first full-length trailer for Devil Wears Prada 2
The first full-length trailer for The Devil Wears Prada 2 has been released, and given more details on David Frankel’s hotly anticipated follow-up. In the promo, Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly and her right-hand man Nigel, played by Stanley Tucci, are seen reuniting with Anne Hathaway’s Andy and, later, Emily Blunt’s Emily.Priestly remembers neither, nor even her habit of referring to all her fashion magazine assistants as Emily – presumably on account of her withering alpha-editor status rather than, say, dementia.The film’s teaser trailer, which was released in November, was reportedly the most-viewed comedy trailer in 15 years, with 181.5m views on YouTube in its first 24 hours
Letter: Mark Fisher obituary
In his fat 2004 volume Britain’s Best Museums and Galleries, the former arts minister Mark Fisher displayed great enthusiasm and knowledge, dating from museum visits with his father when he was very young. I greatly enjoyed working with him when he was a well-informed commissioner and I was deputy director of the Museums & Galleries Commission.We shared common ground in that I grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, where he was an MP for from 1983 to 2010. Members of my family have been involved in heritage projects for many years, from museums and historic houses to oatcakes and bottle ovens, and with their advice he was able to intervene quietly and helpfully from time to time in such matters in the city.
Software sell-off over AI fears hits global stock markets, but FTSE 100 finishes at closing high on £8bn insurance takeover – as it happened
Chinese carmaker Chery to launch fourth brand in UK
Pinterest sacks two engineers for creating software to identify fired workers
Fairphone 6 review: cheaper, repairable and longer-lasting Android
Tell us your all-time favourite moments from the Winter Olympics
Top seats for Nations Championship’s ‘Glastonbury of Rugby’ at Twickenham to cost £280