For some, McSweeney resignation removes obstacle to eventual downfall of Starmer
For some Labour MPs, the sight of Keir Starmer accepting the resignation of his long-term consigliere, Morgan McSweeney, encapsulated everything they think is going wrong with the prime minister’s leadership.After days of mounting criticism over McSweeney’s role in advocating for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador, the prime minister’s chief of staff left Downing Street on Sunday.But while his departure was welcomed by some of the prime minister’s critics, others felt it displayed the kind of political passivity which they say has characterised Starmer’s time in office.“The idea of Morgan being allowed to resign makes the PM look even weaker,” one MP said.“He should have sacked him – now he risks going down with Morgan.
”McSweeney enjoyed a level of access and power in Downing Street unseen since the days of Dominic Cummings under Boris Johnson.Some believe it was McSweeney who, as head of the thinktank Labour Together, picked Starmer out as the leader for his centrist movement, rather the other way round.McSweeney’s influence was so all-encompassing that one Labour source was quoted in a recent book as saying Starmer thought he was driving the train when actually he had been placed at the front of the driverless Docklands Light Railway.To his supporters, McSweeney was the political genius who oversaw the overthrow of the hard left, the rise of Starmer as leader, and eventually, the historic landslide election victory of 2024.They argue his resignation shows his determination to protect the prime minister despite the fact that it was Starmer’s ultimate decision to appoint Mandelson.
“There were plenty of people pushing Mandelson’s appointment,” one said,“What a tragedy that only the person providing advice has the guts to front it up,”Another added: “We all owe Morgan an immense debt of gratitude,He single-handedly dragged us back to electability and propelled us into government,We would still be facing irrelevance or even extinction without him.
”Critics, however – many of them Labour MPs – say McSweeney ran a male-dominated cabal at the heart of Downing Street that ignored the opinions of elected members and prioritised battling the left over governing,They say McSweeney’s determination to champion the credentials of his former mentor Mandelson shows that he valued favouring his friends and political fellow travellers over serving the prime minister’s best interests,They also see the recent revelation that Labour Together – the thinktank McSweeney once led – once commissioned an investigation into journalists reporting on its funding as further evidence of a culture of unethical behaviour,“It is very consistent with the cowboy behaviour of Morgan,” said one Labour MP, referring to the Labour Together investigation, which McSweeney did not commission but has not denied knowing about,“There is a pattern of pretty indefensible behaviour.
”Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, said: “Morgan McSweeney’s resignation should not be treated as a cleansing moment.He was not an aberration.He was the tip of an iceberg.“What he represents is a political culture that has dominated Labour for a generation.A culture forged under Blair and Mandelson that taught the party to be relaxed about extreme wealth, comfortable in the orbit of billionaires, lobbyists and corporate power, and increasingly detached from the lives of the people it was created to represent.
”McSweeney’s departure should relieve pressure on Starmer in the short term.His sacking was one of the main demands of the Tribune group of MPs from the soft left.But some believe that it also removes an important obstacle to the eventual downfall of Starmer himself.Without his right-hand man around, the prime minister will have to accept a greater share of the blame should Labour lose the Gorton and Denton byelection and face heavy losses at the subsequent local elections.“Keir has nobody left to blame, he has lost his firewall,” said one MP.
“But then, maybe McSweeney’s departure also removes the need for a firewall.”Luke Sullivan, Starmer’s former head of political strategy, said: “This is a big moment, but I don’t know how it helps other than buying Starmer some time.“Morgan is a lightning rod – some people think he’s a genius, others that he’s to blame for everything.I don’t think any individual can be under pressure as much as this if they’re not an elected politician.”One thing is certain: with leadership speculation already at fever pitch, those pushing to oust the prime minister are unlikely to be deterred.
“Like a wounded animal, this government will drag itself away as it’s hacked at and pecked at till it expires, probably after the May locals,” said one leftwing Labour backbencher.“By then Starmer can resign on the grounds of those losses and not the reputational disaster of Epstein and Mandelson.“It won’t matter though.Starmer will go down as the worst PM in Labour history and one that may have finally broken it.He’s a coward who refuses to take responsibility for his own actions.
He is a moral gravity-well from which neither decency, honesty or integrity can escape.A genuine disaster for this country and the Labour movement.”
My cultural awakening: Bach helped me survive sexual abuse as a child
For pianist James Rhodes, the composer’s music expressed feelings that he could not put into words – and kept helping him as his mental health suffered in adulthoodWhen I found a cassette tape of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne, aged seven, it’s how I imagine a kid would feel seeing Messi play football and thinking: I have to do that with my life. By then, I had already been sexually abused by a teacher for two years, and despite showing all the signs of trauma – night terrors, twitching, wetting the bed, constant stomach aches – I obediently kept his secret. To me, the world was a war zone of pain. I was a shy, awkward, lonely kid, but alone in my bedroom with that piece of music, I found a little bit of light that was just for me. Hearing it for the first time was almost a religious experience
From Lord of the Flies to Deftones: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Adolescence writer Jack Thorne takes on the classic tale of deserted schoolboys, while the US band warm up for a pummelling summer of alt metal100 Nights of HeroOut nowMaika Monroe plays a woman shut up in a castle with her husband’s handsome and seductive best friend (Nicholas Galitzine) who has made a wager that he can tempt her to stray from her marriage. Sharp-witted maid Hero (Emma Corrin) clocks what’s going on and does her best to foil the dirtbag’s schemes, in this fairytale fantasy from Julia Jackman. Charli xcx also stars.My Father’s ShadowOut nowṢọpẹ́ Dìrísù (Slow Horses) stars in a semi-autobiographical debut from Akinola Davies Jr in which an estranged father travels through the city of Lagos in Nigeria with his two young sons during a day of violent unrest following the 1993 election crisis.HamletOut nowSomething is rotten in the state of England: Riz Ahmed plays Shakespeare’s famous Dane as a scion of a wealthy British South Asian family in Aneil Karia’s modern take on probably the most famous play of all time
Austin Butler to play Lance Armstrong in big-screen biopic
The Oscar-nominated actor Austin Butler is scheduled to take on the role of the disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong in a buzzy new biopic.According to Deadline, the package has caused a “frenzied” bidding war in Hollywood with the Conclave director Edward Berger at the helm and King Richard’s Zach Baylin set to write the script.Producer Scott Stuber, who recently worked on Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, has been working to secure Armstrong’s life rights for a while and a deal has now finally been agreed. Armstrong will be involved in the film but will not have a producing credit.The hope is for the film to be a cross between F1 and The Wolf of Wall Street
Stephen Colbert: ‘Trump would eat a bicycle tire if you put it on a bun’
On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert responded to White House adviser Paula White-Cain’s claims that Donald Trump is “the GOAT”, while Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers addressed ICE and Jeffrey Epstein.Over on the Late Show, Colbert turned his attention to Trump’s appearance at the national prayer breakfast and his speech at the Washington Hilton hotel. Or as Colbert called the president’s 77-minute address, “special material just for the prayer munchers”.Ahead of his remarks, Trump was introduced by White-Cain, the White House senior adviser who Colbert called a “haunted Bloomingdale’s mannequin”. White-Cain introduced the president as “the GOAT: the greatest of all time”
Aacta awards 2026: horror film Bring Her Back and Jacob Elordi win big at Australian film and TV prizes
Bring Her Back has dominated at the 2026 Aacta (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) awards, winning 10 of 16 nominations, while Jacob Elordi has continued his recent awards buzz by taking home best lead actor for his performance in The Narrow Road to the Deep North.Bring Her Back, Danny and Michael Philippou’s horror-thriller about a sinister foster mother, emerged as the most awarded film of the night with 10 wins. This marks a major milestone for the Adelaide brothers, surpassing the eight awards they won for their 2024 global breakout, Talk to Me.Bring Her Back won best direction, best film, best leading actress in a film for Sally Hawkins and almost every technical category, including cinematography, editing, original score, sound, costume design, hair and makeup, and casting.Fresh from his Critics’ Choice Movie awards win for his portrayal of the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Elordi won best lead actor in a drama for his portrayal of army surgeon Dorrigo Evans in the screen adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Volcanic vulvas and hermaphrodite marble: Ovid’s Metamorphoses reshaped at the Rijksmuseum
Artists from Bernini to Louise Bourgeois are brought together in a new exhibition exploring the uncomfortable erotic parables of the ancient Roman poetOn three massive screens in a darkened room, snakes glide over the face of artist Juul Kraijer – covering her eyes, caressing her lips. She is the silent but terrifying snake-headed Medusa, and one of the surprises in an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam revolving around Greek and Roman myths.While the show features rarely lent works from masters such as Caravaggio, Bernini, Rodin and Brâncuși, it marries them with modern artists who reinterpret the legends where male gods do all they can to get their wicked way and the powerless are punished. Transgender bodies, bare breasts and even a volcanic vulva appear in artworks inspired by Roman poet Ovid’s masterpiece, Metamorphoses.Taco Dibbits, general director of the Rijksmuseum, believes the 200 myths and legends from this ancient epic poem still speak to our uncertain times
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