#Keir Starmer

#Keir Starmer

This was a big, bold intervention from Anas Sarwar - to be the first leading Labour figure to call for the prime minister to go. He has done so out of frustration and anger. Anger at the prime minister's handling of the Mandelson mess. He said on Thursday that the Labour peer should never have been considered for the job of UK ambassador to Washington.

"The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change. That's why the distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change... We cannot allow the failures at the heart of Downing Street to mean the failures continue here in Scotland. I have to be honest about failure wherever I see it - the situation in Downing Street is not good enough."

Senior figures in Sir Keir Starmer's government are preparing to hand over tranches of their electronic communications with Lord Mandelson ahead of the release of evidence about his appointment as US ambassador. The deepening scandal prompted an apology on Wednesday from Sir Keir to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for believing Lord Mandelson's "lies" and appointing him when the peer's friendship with the paedophile was already public knowledge.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.