‘Many are viewing the Mandelson scandal through the narrow lens of whether Starmer should stay or go. This misses the point: most of those who are lined up to replace him are likely to carry forward the abject political legacy he leaves behind.’ www.independent.co.uk/voices/peter...

More than ever, we should cherish our judiciary which is still fundamentally independent.

Biden all the warning we should need that sticking with a lame duck leader can only possibly result in extreme right wing ideology on this side of the Atlantic, too.

‘The prime minister and the health secretary should listen to the public they serve when they tell them Palantir has no place in the NHS. They should not be scheming with tech billionaires’ staff.’ www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

I hope it doesn’t turn out that Mandelson’s Global Council, which counts Palantir as a client, was the one lobbying Streeting to secure this contract.

Palantir is everything Labour has traditionally and historically stood against. The fact it is now willing to stand with it —and give it hundreds of millions of public money, not to mention entrusting it with our NHS and defence data — is at the heart of the party’s self-disgust.

Not a story you will see many mainstream national newspapers leading on, as their proprietors wouldn’t like it.

The migrant of Monaco

Say something overtly racist — as the zillionaire overseas-based Jim Ratcliffe just has — and the BBC will obligingly amplify it (‘raising salient political issues’) both on the 10 0’clock News and shortly on Newsnight.

🦆 So basically the country is stuck with a universally detested lame duck prime minister — apologising for one scandal after another — until after the local elections in May.

Correction: the UK has been colonised by some odious super rich individuals based overseas.

❤️

The Hon Member for Palantir and Mandelson Central would not represent change.

The dude whose company, thanks to Labour, will run our military analytics and to whom Wes Streeting is giving our personal healthcare data.

Who’d want to take charge of Labour ahead of the political bloodbath in the May local elections?

Starmer wouldn’t dare authorise an independent investigation into Epstein and the Russian connection as it’d come too close to home.

One reason the Tories have up until now been the party of government for so many more years than Labour is that they have been a lot quicker and a lot more efficient at removing unpopular leaders.

Labour won’t be a party at ease with itself until it finds a leader who at least gives a damn about Gaza.

Like he could have blamed anyone else?

Rule one of foreign policy: when you’re weak at home you’re weak everywhere. Terrible news.

Key thing is Starmer really does sever all links to McSweeney: there is precedent when it comes to ousted aides continuing to drop poison into the ears of weak prime ministers.

Goodbye to bad rubbish.

Good grief. observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Good for @martinwrigley.bsky.social for daring to ask questions in the House about Palantir — even though the Cabinet Office is blocking him at every turn.

What hold has McSweeney — unarguably the worst advisor to any Labour leader, ever — over the weak and compromised Starmer? This, too, needs to be investigated.

‘A five-figure taxpayer-funded payout for Lord Mandelson is a disgusting betrayal of Epstein’s victims…’ Mandelson, needless to say, asked for more. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

🐀 Like rats in a sack now…

This is what America has become. Vote Reform to ensure that this is what the UK becomes.

Biden lost power as president because of age and cognitive impairment and those around him failed to accept reality until too late, at incalculable expense to his country and party. Starmer lost power as result of endless scandal. Labour cannot and must not make the same mistake.

When a prime minister becomes a topic of conversation only in relation to who will succeed him — and that is now the case with Starmer — then he has already lost authority, purpose and power. He is a dead man walking.

It was WWII that made them different, John. You’d talk to someone like Healey and you’d be aware he was Beach Master at Anzio or Carrington, awarded the Military Cross ‘in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North West Europe.’ It gave them a sense of duty and the national interest.

Epstein’s victims were afforded no protection. I don’t see the argument his loyal friend Mandelson should be afforded any now. All journalists — not just the ones he deems to be sympathetic such as Kuenssberg — should be allowed to put questions to him.

Breathtaking arrogance and idiocy.

All we see in Starmer is shock that he’s been found out, shock too that people still care, but not shock that the whole system he presides over is rotten.

Palantirgate

I like to think there might be a young decent uncompromised Labour MP none of us have heard of who now emerges….

Can we be perfectly clear that the man most touted — and most avid — to now succeed Starmer will not in any way mark a new beginning either for the country or Labour?

Starmer must have had an idea Mandelsongate was coming so it makes his decision to block Burnham look like a deliberate attempt to sabotage his own party… because who else is there? Mandelson’s old mate Streeting? Oh yes, that would be a new beginning.

Each second Starmer remains in No 10, the more damage he does to his own government and party he professes to love.

‘I’ve let myself down, my party down and my trousers down…’

Strange how none of Epstein’s chums are lecturing us on patriotism this morning.

There are so many lines of inquiry now…

Streeting citing ‘national security’ as justification for not being transparent about Mandelson — what on earth did his old friend and mentor ever care about national security if there was money to be made?

I wonder if even now Kuenssberg realises the extent to which she was played by Mandelson. www.ft.com/content/d643...

Meanwhile our dodgy government remains happily in bed with Palantir.

The Peter Mandelson saga shows why transparency on politicians expenses is so important. So maybe some people will start asking more probing questions of Farage as well? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Labour's dark soul has been exposed. Why does it refuse to confront wealthy elites - even though that's popular? For two reasons: ideology and money. New column 👇 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

France better at protecting itself.