EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Labour MP Rosie Duffield has issued a stark warning to Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of the local elections next month, while making a wild comparison
Keir Starmer has been warned to stop acting like “a teflon lettuce” by a former Labour MP. Hours after comments from former Foreign Office head Sir Olly Robbins, who claimed there was a “dismissive approach” to vetting from No 10 and an “atmosphere of pressure” to push through Lord Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US, he’s been given a very dire warning.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star, Rosie Duffield – who resigned from Labour in September 2024 and has been sitting as an independent ever since – said: “He cannot keep going, like a lettuce made of Teflon, if the local election results are as terrible as predicted then he has to resign.”
May’s local elections are set to see Labour annihilated, according to many experts, with PollCheck claiming that they would lose around 979 council seats overall – although they would still have more than Reform by just 31 seats.
Before that, there’s the small matter of today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, where he will likely to face tough questions after Sir Olly defended his actions before the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
The top civil servant was dismissed by the Prime Minister last week when it came to light that he had not informed him that Lord Mandelson was approved for the high-ranking diplomatic role despite security vetting officials advising against it.
On Monday, Sir Keir told the Commons that he had questioned Sir Olly about why he had disregarded the recommendation of UK Security Vetting (UKSV) and did not accept his explanation.
However, Sir Olly stated that it was standard practice not to disclose the results of the vetting process and described feeling pressured to approve the peer for the position.
When Sir Olly assumed leadership of the Foreign Office in January of last year, Lord Mandelson had already undergone the Cabinet Office’s “due diligence” process, received approval from the King and the US, and was being granted access to “highly classified briefings” on a case-by-case basis – even without his security clearance being confirmed, he said.
The Whitehall stalwart claimed this led to a “dismissive approach” to developed vetting from Downing Street for the rest of the process but maintained it was carried out to the usual standard “despite this atmosphere of pressure”.
No 10 has dismissed this, arguing there is a difference between “the idea of pressure” and “being kept informed about the process and the progress of the appointment”.
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