Morgan McSweeney has dramatically quit as Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff, after mounting scrutiny over his role in Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US. The PM's adviser had been coming under pressure after pushing for the former minister to be given the job, despite the peer's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein being publicly known about at the time.
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.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer sacked Lord Mandelson after he faced mounting scrutiny over his connections to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. In a statement, Ross said: "In light of recent developments, with agreement from the other political groups on the council, we will put forward a motion at next week's full council meeting calling for the high steward role to be removed from Lord Mandelson."
The current attrition rate of senior figures from the government is running at one a week this autumn. First Angela Rayner resigns as deputy prime minister, knowing she would be sacked if she didn't. Next Lord Mandelson is sacked as the UK's Ambassador in the United States. Each followed a similar pattern. A drip drip of revelations, the prime minister expressing full confidence in them while not in possession of the full facts about them, and then, after a growing sense of inevitability, they're gone.
