How long can Starmer survive? Getting popcorn ready 🍿🍿

Breaking News - Mandelson’s two residences are being searched by Police right now.

Starmer must be quaking in his boots.

I’m no fan of Starmer but the thought of Rayner is horrifying. Talk of Milliband being in a position of power such as Chancellor also beggars belief. Hold on for a bumpy ride ending in a totally destructive crash.

Reeves clearly doesn’t want a high street? Or hospitality sector? Who on earth would make it so hard for small businesses to thrive?

The decline of the High Street in the face of exponential growth of online shopping began long before Starmer and shows no signs of abating. Not enough in itself to say Labour isn't working and remove KS as PM.

Under the Conservatives, between January 2022 and January 2024 food prices increased by 25%. General inflation was much higher under the Conservatives also.

Labour is doing better- UK current inflation was 3.6% in June 2025, whilst food shop inflation at 4.5% in the year to June 2025. The State Pension will increase by 4.8% from April 6th.

In the 3 months up to November 2025 average regular earnings growth excluding bonuses in the UK was 4.5% year on year and public sector pay has accelerated thing a 7.9% increase in the same period.

MayBee70 Reeves is making life impossible for the high street to continue to thrive. Reeves has increased national insurance rates and business rates for premises. Reeves. Not so the conservatives.

Thank you for posting Primrose53. I was beginning to think that I was living in a parallel universe….. although sad to realise the extent of decline in just a very short while. Reeves is clueless. All this noise about Andrew and Mandelson is a distraction from the disaster of Reeves.

Primrose53

ronib

My local village used to be a thriving busy shopping area with busy restaurants but now businesses are closing down and going online. This is due to business rates increasing 3 fold, less customers/footfall because parking is no longer free, rises in national insurance payments and so on. I have to ask if local decline is across the UK? If so, what economic benefit has this given the government?
Even more alarming than the publicity surrounding Epstein and Mandelson is the social impact Rachel Reeves’ poor decisions are having on our daily lives. Life under Labour is not working is it?

Life under Labour is definitely not working!

Pubs are closing down around here at an alarming rate as are many independent shops. It is depressing to go to small towns and see empty shops with whitewashed windows. It is very difficult to find a bank in most towns now and even shops like Holland and Barrett and The Original Factory Shop have closed their stores. Family businesses are throwing in the towel now after trading for many decades.

I know my weekly shop has gone up quite a bit and all my friends say the same. You really do have to shop around to get the best prices now.

Unfortunately spent far too much time this last year in hospitals and very disappointed to see how they are overcrowded, how services have been cut and you wait weeks for appointments at GPs and months and years in hospitals.

Didn’t a lot of this start under the Conservatives? And is probably a social thing and not just a result of government policy? People buying more on the internet. Internet banking taking over. People staying at home with a drink watching Netflix etc. Parking charges in city centres.

Thank you graphite, for posting that article which describes exactly how many people viewed the appointment of PM as ambassador, at that time.

ronib

My local village used to be a thriving busy shopping area with busy restaurants but now businesses are closing down and going online. This is due to business rates increasing 3 fold, less customers/footfall because parking is no longer free, rises in national insurance payments and so on. I have to ask if local decline is across the UK? If so, what economic benefit has this given the government?
Even more alarming than the publicity surrounding Epstein and Mandelson is the social impact Rachel Reeves’ poor decisions are having on our daily lives. Life under Labour is not working is it?

Life under Labour is definitely not working!

Pubs are closing down around here at an alarming rate as are many independent shops. It is depressing to go to small towns and see empty shops with whitewashed windows. It is very difficult to find a bank in most towns now and even shops like Holland and Barrett and The Original Factory Shop have closed their stores. Family businesses are throwing in the towel now after trading for many decades.

I know my weekly shop has gone up quite a bit and all my friends say the same. You really do have to shop around to get the best prices now.

Unfortunately spent far too much time this last year in hospitals and very disappointed to see how they are overcrowded, how services have been cut and you wait weeks for appointments at GPs and months and years in hospitals.

ArthurAskey

My guess is thst the snake Mandelson has some dirt on Starmer. What else could explain Starmers stupid decision? Ukranian rent boys have not been in court yet!

I would think it’s more likely that he had some dirt on Trump.

Juniper 1.a massive governnent majority by default

Unfortunate for the right wing press, which has dug hard for years, Starmer has very little dirt in his past. He is actually quite a sincere, straightlaced man which is ultimately quite boring for those who thrive on political drama. Yes he accepted a few pairs of glasses from some company , which he was hammered for, and he bought his mother a field for her donkey rescue. I’m disappointed in how he’s handled this government, has tried to out right wing the Conservatives, not been anywhere as radical as I’d hoped. The good things this government have done have been largely ignored by the media, yes, they should have done more and they’ve made mistakes, but I really don’t want to go back to the Prime Minister musical chairs we had in the last government. It is really destabilising.

This us probablt the last straw for Starmer. But who will replace him.
Hope it us not that terrible
Angela Rayner woman
A Lavour version of Thatcher !!!!

May have mentioned this before. But Private Eye used to refer to Mandelson as the Prince of Darkness.
They weren''t far wrong were they!

Hold the line!
They have a massive majority.
Previous governments and current parties have many skeletons also.
Starmer is a decent principled man. This government is making so much progress on many fronts.

I think if you live abroad (which I do) it behoves you to do as much research as possible and not come out with an inflammatory one liner.
Having said that, I think I can safely say that I am the most informed source on the subject of Keir Starmer's accent on Gransnet. 😂

.
Thank you for your totally unbiased comment (direct from Labour Party HQ, no doubt!!)
.

My guess is thst the snake Mandelson has some dirt on Starmer. What else could explain Starmers stupid decision? Ukranian rent boys have not been in court yet!

Marjgran

Nanna8 should get out more. A lot of people have a lot of time for Starmer

And a load of people think otherwise.
nanna8 is always aware of what goes on in British politics, is British herself and has every right to comment on here.

Galaxy

If squeaky clean now means appointing people who have friendships with prolific paedophiles and traffickers, then my definition of clean is out of date.

I agree, and I was very disappointed to find the minute he arrived in number ten he and his wife were wearing clothes paid for by a wealthy donor, and several pairs of designer specs.

Nanna8 should get out more. A lot of people have a lot of time for Starmer

do NOT expect a hot pursuit in Saudi press..

Graphite 14.20- thanks- that DM article gives this current UK "political theatre" useful context.

PM was appointed into the US ambassador role with full knowledge of his past connection with Epstein, his character and previous political reputation and history. The reputational risk for the government was thus known to a large extent but he was seen as a "good/best fit" by many to manage diplomatic relations with Trump- (who also had a relationship with Epstein along with many other global politicians, business leaders and royals). Trump is a huge, unpredictable risk factor on the world stage, not just for UK. Trump eats weak people for breakfast; thus the Prince of Darkness could hold his own and mitigate the Trump risk factor no doubt was the guiding consideration. Even Farage, as the DM stated, declared the appointment a good fit and none in the Conservative party et al spoke out loudly against the appointment either at the time. This is what happens no doubt in politics- pragmatism reigns when dealing with someone like Trump, who can hardly be described as a law abiding citizen.

Now- with the benefit of hindsight, around the world politicians, business and tech leaders, elites and royals are dealing with the fall out of this latest and the previous large release of the Epstein files. So many consorted with Epstein, who was a prolific, successful, networker, interlocking cycles of money, power and sex (though all his contacts may not have known about the extent and detail of his sex crimes).

We are now finding out emails that show some of these interlocking relationships became very quid pro pro- ie some of Epstein's consorts eventually had to do something in return for Epstein's largesse, hospitality, invitation to a party or an introduction to a woman or whatever. Some gave back soley due to their prominent position, (royals, high ranking politicians etc) and this gave Epstein legitimacy and hiding in plain sight status. Some or many may not have had knowledge of his sexual behaviours, some may have suspected and turned a blind eye. Some knowingly- some naively. But some did and colluded, badly.

Farage, the DM, the Conservatives, the Secret Services all, alongside KS could not have foreseen the detail of Epstein file evidence release in relation to PM nor the detail of his collusion with Epstein. As soon as that evidence was released KS acted quickly, though not adroitly, reading the political room is not his strong point.

Look around the world- the most heated inquest politically regarding PM is in the UK. In contrast in the US, Trump, his wife and Mar-a-Lago club have been referred to so far 38,000 times but the constitutional lines of accountability to control a president seem to be long gone. Do expect a hot pursuit in the Saudi press of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The most badly affected EU country is upright Norway, where the royal family, in particular the crown princess is also coming under scrutiny- she is mentioned 1,000 times in the files. the children of a high profile Danish diplomat were due to receive $10 million US dollars in Epstein's will, signed 2 days before he died. The Swedish president of UN Refugee agency, a Norwegian diplomat etc all mentioned and colluded in a similar, or worse way to PM- seemingly for much larger sums of money. The list goes on and on...

Yet the UK, currently, is the outlier in the political conversation whether the actions of government appointed diplomats reflects so badly on the Prime minister's judgement that their position is brought into question in such a febrile way. Other countries to date see the "crimes' of their appointed diplomats seemingly through a different lens.

Starmer has made many mistakes, as do all PMs in first few years of office. However the UK right wing, febrile media is stoking the fires to topple KS here in the UK, that is not being replicated similarly in other countries where their appointed diplomats have also misbehaved. Make of that what you will....

Jess20

I agree with you DaisyAnneReturns. It's becoming sensationalised, inviting a witch hunt rather than understanding how corruption can infiltrate our political systems. Personally I think we shouldn't get distracted from the actual criminal and immoral behaviour that went on - including the harm done to a lot of young women whose lives were damaged. We can't pretend that power is always innocent or ethical yet good politicians still have to deal with it as best they can. Epstein was a financial and social fixer, a useful person to know. I'm sure not all those he dealt with were criminals and shining a light into the cesspit shows how easy it is to be at the edge of a criminal underworld. From there so easy to become associated with it, mud sticks. Some were drawn into seriously nasty stuff - stupidly, innocently, inadvertantly, nieavely - a lot of people really should have known better, and some freely chosen to participate. As Graphite says, lots of wealthy and powerful people happily moved in that circle, it was treated as legitimate, acceptable. However, Starmer sacked Mandy as soon as evidence of bad behaviour came to light and if we can't support our politicians, and only try to tear them down, there'll be no good ones left to elect! I think we should still be supporting our PM as he is likely to be the best one we've had for years. Who stands to gain if we weaken our own government? That's a scary thought! Think, 'follow the money' ...
where did Epstein's wealth came from, how come he had so much spare cash to give away, how did he manage to draw so many (mostly men) into sordid situations where they could then be embarrassed, exposed etc - maybe he controlled them through threats and favours, blackmail, and so on, his reward, insider information, tips to share with the right people.... But, where did the money come from? Who gains if our government get taken down in the crossfire?

There is a very good new The Rest is Politics podcast episode which is partly about Mandelson, but also lots of interesting stuff about the influential and the super rich, mostly American, but by no means all. It is fascinating how Epstein managed and manipulated them to meet, mingle, make deals and party.
There is so much more to it than AMW and PM.

Our political system is an absolute basket case at the moment. The only consolation is that we are not in the USA under Trump. Keir Starmer has always been weak; buffeted by every changing opinion. The old folk song The Vicar of Bray could easily be applied to him. The problem is in who could replace him. I cannot understand why Angela Rayner is being touted as her reputation has been tarnished with her behaviour over the housing issue. Can we please have a prime minister of integrity and a true willingness to serve the country? Is this really too much to ask? It seems that we have to go back several decades to have a prime minister of integrity, no matter which party they represent.

Anniebach

ronib if the rest of the country was as your local village after 14years conservative government, beggars the question ‘why did Labour win the 2024 general election’?

If there was an election now, do you think Labour would win again after their record of the last 18 months and damage they have done?