Keir Starmer flees to France amid Lord Mandelson chaos to address 'global responsibility' in Middle East

George Bunn
Fri, 17 Apr 2026 06:37:39 +0000

Sir Keir Starmer will be jetting off to France to address a "global responsibility" to open the Strait of Hormuz - while every other major party leader is calling for his head at home.

Last night, shortly before news of Sir Olly Robbins's Foreign Office exit emerged, Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage, Sir Ed Davey and Zack Polanski all demanded the PM resign.

"In these dangerous times, Britain cannot afford to have a Prime Minister who the country doesn't trust. Starmer has betrayed our national security. He should go," Mrs Badenoch warned.

But in Paris, Sir Keir will be co-hosting a "virtual meeting" of global leaders with Emmanuel Macron - before lunch with the French President.

Around 40 countries and the International Maritime Organisation are expected to dial in.

The Prime Minister is expected to tell the summit: "The unconditional and immediate reopening of the strait is a global responsibility, and we need to act to get global energy and trade flowing freely again.

"Emmanuel Macron and I are clear in our commitment to establish a multinational initiative to protect freedom of navigation.

"We must reassure commercial shipping and support mine clearance operations to ensure a return to global stability and security."

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who also "lost confidence" in Sir Olly last night, will be joining too, alongside the Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir Richard Knighton.

Planning for a joint defensive mission is underway with a view to countries sending a combined military effort as soon as conditions allow, Downing Street has said.

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Keir Starmer 'furious' he wasn't told Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is "furious" and it was "unforgivable" that neither he nor any minister was told Lord Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting.

The Prime Minister told reporters in Paris he will "set out the relevant facts" in Parliament on Monday.

Keir Starmer's premiership now hangs in the balance due to a dangerous cumulative effect, writes Christopher Hope

As the crisis surrounding the botched appointment of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador continues to cast a shadow over Sir Keir Starmer, our Political Editor Christopher Hope and Senior Politics Producer Keith Bays have taken a look as to how we got here and what could happen next.

Writing for GB News Members, the pair said: "The Government has begun to look not just divided, but adrift: a group of competing voices without a clear sense of direction."

GB News Members can read the full analysis here.

Diane Abbott says Keir Starmer needs to 'consider his position'

Veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott said Sir Keir Starmer "needs to consider his position" as she issued a warning to the Prime Minister.

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP, who served alongside Sir Keir in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow Cabinet, told Sky News that it was "just not possible" that Downing Street didn’t know about Peter Mandelson’s failed vetting.

She added: "I think to try and pretend Downing Street didn’t know, when anybody who follows those issues would know that that can’t be true, is the kind of thing that undermines people’s faith in politics.

"It’s always been the process that if you mislead the House, you have to step down."

Zack Polanski says today 'needs to end' with Keir Starmer's resignation

The Green Party leader Zack Polanski has reiterated his calls for the Prime Minister to resign, as he called for an end to "Rip Off Britain."

Mr Polanski said: "There’s no way today should end without Starmer’s resignation. Any other outcome would be an absurd scenario where this Labour Government, and all in it, would be laughing in our faces.

"The ethics and morality...are an important question. Just as vital and urgent is the fact it’s all such a distraction.

"We have sky high bills and an energy crisis we need to end Rip Off Britain. All attention needs to be on a Government capable of doing the basics."

Pension fears grow as Labour wins vote to take control of private pots in 'another attack on savers'

MPs have backed Government plans giving ministers the authority to direct how pension schemes invest billions of pounds in retirement savings.

The House of Commons approved a "reserve power" that would allow the Government to compel pension providers to put money into private markets and other assets.

This measure sparked significant concern when first proposed last summer, with industry experts warning it could endanger people's retirements by removing investment choices from trustees and professional fund managers.

Our personal finance reporter Temie Laleye has the full story here.

Kemi Badenoch accuses Keir Starmer of 'taking the public for fools'

Kemi Badenoch said the Prime Minister is "taking the public for fools" as she questioned why Foreign Office officials would overall security vetting procedures.

"The Prime Minister and ministers like Darren Jones are taking the public for fools, they must think that everybody is stupid. Why would officials overrule an appointment of a politician?", she told the BBC.

"Let’s remember, Peter Mandelson was not a civil servant who they were covering up for, he was a Labour Party member who had been brought in from outside.

"Why would officials say, ‘Well he’s failed the security vetting, but let’s not tell the Prime Minister’, why would they do that? It just doesn’t make any sense."

"I don’t buy this story. I don’t think that they would overrule vetting unless it was for something minor," she added.

Rejoining the EU will cost £22billion a year warns former Vote Leave chief

Britons will have to pay £22billion a year to rejoin the European Union, the head of the winning Brexit campaign has said.

Lord Elliott of Mickle Fell, who as Matthew Elliott was chief executive of the victorious Vote Leave campaign, also said that polling he has seen shows that most people do not want to rejoin the EU.

Polls have repeatedly suggested that most Britons are concerned about the cost and impact of the UK's decision to leave the EU 10 years ago in June.

However, Lord Elliott told GB News' Chopper's Political Podcast: "The polling I look at shows that people don't want to rejoin the polling. They're still worried about the cost of rejoining."

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE.

Nigel Farage brands Olly Robbins as the 'sacrificial lamb'

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the Foreign Office’s top civil servant Sir Olly Robbins is the "sacrificial lamb in an attempt to try and save the Prime Minister".

"None of this adds up, the idea they weren’t told about the vetting", he told LBC.

The Clacton MP continued: "Remember, in the House of Commons, Starmer actually said that the vetting had told him about the ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, then outside of the House, in Hastings, he gave a speech in which he said that Mandelson had cleared security vetting.

"They are all over the place on this, it is totally unbelievable and Robbins, he’s the sacrificial lamb in an attempt to try and save the Prime Minister, and it just isn’t good enough."

Keir Starmer showed 'catastrophic error of judgement' in Peter Mandelson appointment says senior Liberal Democrat

A senior Liberal Democrat said Sir Keir Starmer had shown a "catastrophic error of judgement" in appointing Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador.

The party's Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart told GB News: "Let's not forget Peter Mandelson had been sacked twice from ministerial positions because of poor judgement for behaviour.

"So it baffled many people that the PM thought this was a good call to begin with.

"We in the Liberal Democrats don't think all the information is out there. We're calling for the PM to be referred to the privileges committee in Parliament."

​Keir Starmer was 'right' to tell Parliament that due process says Labour minister

Sir Keir Starmer was "right" to tell Parliament that due process had been followed throughout Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, "because it had", Darren Jones has told the BBC.

The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister saif: "The Prime Minister was right when he told the House that due process had been followed, because it had.

"But the fact that that process did not require officials to tell the Foreign Secretary or the Prime Minster that they ignored the advice of security and vetting officials is totally unacceptable."

Senior Conservative says Peter Mandelson appointment is 'the great political scandal of our time'

Shadow Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart has called Peter Mandelson's appointment as US Ambassador the "great political scandal of our time" as he demanded Sir Keir Starmer resign as Prime Minister.

He told GB News: "I find it very hard to believe anything from the Government anymore...We know the PM was told there were serious concerns with Peter Mandelson.

"Ultimately, I find it very unlikely that no one in the Foreign Office would have told anyone in Number 10 there were red flags about the guy they wanted to send to Washington.

"The PM thinks the rules don't apply to him, he doesn't care if he tells the truth. It is totally unacceptable and these people are not fit to govern."

Keir Starmer 'furious with the state' over vetting process for Peter Mandelson

The Prime Minister's Chief Secretary Darren Jones said Sir Keir Starmer was "furious with the state" because the Foreign Office was able to overrule the vetting process for Lord Peter Mandelson.

He said he had ordered an urgent review after discovering that the Foreign Office and other Government departments the right to ignore security advice when appointing people to sensitive roles.

Mr Jones told Sky News: "It is utterly unacceptable, not just in the individual case of Peter Mandelson and respect of the Prime Minister’s fury at the Foreign Office for not having taught him this information, but the very fact that their processes were in place that allow for that to happen in the first place.

"That’s why in my role in the Cabinet Office, immediately last night, I suspended the rights for these organisations to make these judgments.

"I’ve asked for an urgent review about what decisions these organisations have taken in the past to overrule the recommendations from UK security vetting, and I was due to announce a broader, independent review of the vetting process anyway. And this will now be part of that."

Conservatives offer damning assessment of Labour's handling of Lord Mandelson appointment

Top Conservatives came out swinging last night with a damning assessment of the scalps taken by the fallout over Lord Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the US.

Frontbencher Alex Burghart said there would be "more to come" after the resignations of Lord Mandelson himself, Morgan McSweeney, Tim Allan and now Sir Olly Robbins.

Shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly then said it was clear that No10's strategy was to make Sir Olly the "scapegoat".

"There is ZERO chance that someone who’d just been appointed would risk their entire career by NOT telling the Foreign Secretary about the vetting," he added.

"Perhaps verbally rather than in writing, but he would have been told!"

Here's what's happening today in Westminster...

Good morning and happy Friday from all of us on the GB News Politics team. Here's what's happening today in Westminster and beyond...

It's 20 days to go until the local elections, with all 32 London Boroughs, Holyrood and Senedd up for grabs.

Last night's sacking of the Foreign Office’s most senior official, Olly Robbins, continues to cause shockwaves across Whitehall this morning.

The Prime Minister held several meetings with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in Downing Street throughout the evening before firing Mr Robbins over the phone.

This morning, Sir Keir's Chief Secretary Darren Jones has said it is "astonishing" and unacceptable the Foreign Office was able to overrule the vetting process for Lord Peter Mandelson and reiterated the Prime Minister is "furious."

Elsewhere, Rachel Reeves has confirmed she is planning to speed up drilling in the North Sea in a bid to soften the blow of the Iran war on energy bills. Our reporter Peter Stevens has the full story here.

Leaked Green Party documents have revealed Mr Polanski's party is planning to spend more on foreign aid than on defence in what rivals have branded as a "complete fantasy". Alice Tomlinson has the write up here.

Here on GB News, we'll be joined by Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart and Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart.