Keir Starmer pledges to 'never walk away' after pressure to quit as PM

Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a visit to Panshanger Community Centre in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Picture: Suzanne Plunkett/PA Wire

A defiant Keir Starmer has insisted he will "never walk away" after coming under pressure to quit as British prime minister.

In his first public comments since Labour's Scottish leader Anas Sarwar called for him to quit, Starmer hit out at infighting within the party and insisted he would lead it into the next general election.

Speaking at an event in Hertfordshire, the prime minister said the political "turmoil" would not stop him focusing on tackling cost-of-living pressures and improving opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

He said: "I am their prime minister, and this is their government and I will never give up on that fight.

"There are some people in recent days who say the Labour government should have a different part, a fight with itself, instead of a fight for the millions of people who need us to fight for them.

"And I say to them: I will never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country.

"I will never walk away from the people that I'm charged with fighting for and I will never walk away from the country that I love."

Starmer said he had the "most working-class cabinet" in history but it was "utter nonsense" to suggest that means everyone from a poorer background gets a fair chance in life.

"And I'm fighting for them."

He had earlier chaired a political cabinet meeting — without civil servants present — where he thanked ministers for their co-ordinated show of support in the wake of Sarwar's call for him to go.

Sarwar is the most senior Labour figure to say Starmer should step down, citing concern that the "distraction" from Downing Street would harm his party's chances of unseating the SNP in May's Holyrood elections.

Starmer said he had "huge respect" for Sarwar and "I support him 100% without reservation" despite his call for him to resign.

The lack of support for Sarwar's position from ministers in Westminster suggests the immediate danger has passed, but his authority remains fragile amid simmering discontent following the fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband conceded the prime minister had faced a "moment of peril" on Monday, when he said Labour MPs "looked over the precipice" following Sarwar's intervention.

But in a series of broadcast interviews Miliband said the country had not changed "enough" for the better under the Labour government and that "the job for all of us is to work out how to be bolder".

In Wales, first minister Eluned Morgan did not follow Sarwar's lead, insisting Sir Keir had her "full confidence".

Under pressure over his appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to Washington because of the Labour veteran's close ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Starmer came out fighting, urging his party to fight the real enemy — the populist Reform UK party — rather than among themselves.

 Starmer said the real fight was with "the politics of Reform, the politics of divide, divide, divide, grievance, grievance, grievance that will tear our country apart".

He won a reprieve late on Monday after winning the backing of his top team of ministers, the support from potential leadership rivals such as former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and from many of his Labour lawmakers in parliament.

On Tuesday, another possible leadership contender, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, also said he supported Starmer.

"Yes, he has my support, the government has my support," he said after a speech to the Resolution Foundation think-tank.

"I think what we all need to do now is to drive the pace of change more quickly and that means greater unity across the whole family of the Labour movement."

Revelations about the depth of Mandelson's relationship with Epstein have spurred the greatest threat yet to Starmer, who has repeatedly said the former ambassador and Labour veteran had lied over his ties to the late sex offender.

Last month, the US justice department included emails suggesting Mandelson had leaked discussions on possible British asset sales and tax changes to Epstein during the financial crash.

Mandelson has not commented publicly on allegations he leaked documents, and has not responded to messages seeking comment. He is now under police investigation for alleged misconduct in office.