{"id":416226,"date":"2026-02-09T13:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T13:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416226\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T13:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T13:29:07","slug":"blame-me-what-the-uk-papers-say-as-morgan-mcsweeney-quits-over-mandelson-epstein-scandal-keir-starmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416226\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Blame me\u2019: what the UK papers say as Morgan McSweeney quits over Mandelson-Epstein scandal | Keir Starmer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fate of prime minister Keir Starmer dominates the UK front pages on Monday after his embattled chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney<\/a>, resigned over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.<\/p>\n

In standing down, McSweeney admitted the decision to advise sending Mandelson to the US despite his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein \u201cwas wrong\u201d. \u201cI advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice,\u201d he said, after a Sunday phone call with Starmer.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarmer fights to regain control over party after McSweeney exit\u201d is how the Guardian framed Starmer\u2019s predicament<\/a>. Senior Labour sources said McSweeney\u2019s departure left the prime minister dangerously exposed as he headed towards a series of policy and electoral challenges<\/a> \u2013 including the Gorton and Denton byelection.<\/p>\n

The Telegraph splashed on \u201cStarmer plays his last card as McSweeney leaves No10\u201d. Its report said the departure of Starmer\u2019s chief of staff will not be enough to save the prime minister\u2019s premiership. \u201cMorgan has taken responsibility for the advice. But there were plenty of others pushing for it,\u201d an unnamed Labour<\/a> source said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how long can Starmer cling on?\u201d the Mail asked. Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, said \u201cthere must be a change in political direction and that comes from the very top\u201d, and the paper said rivals including Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting were jockeying for position in a potential leadership contest.<\/p>\n

The Mirror simply said \u201cBlame me\u201d of McSweeney falling on his sword, and described the moment as a \u201cLabour leadership crisis\u201d. Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, who were McSweeney\u2019s deputies, have reportedly been appointed as acting chiefs of staff, it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPM\u2019s top aide quits over support for Mandelson\u201d was the lead story for the Times, which said Starmer had \u201csacrificed his closest political ally\u201d. An unnamed cabinet minister pondered a potential abrupt exit for Starmer, too: \u201cWe\u2019re asking the question of whether he will be there at the end of the week. There\u2019s a feeling he could stand down at any moment. The next 48 hours is going to be crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top story at the FT said \u201cStarmer battles to save premiership after top aide McSweeney steps down\u201d, and it reported that the prime minister now faces a difficult period of intense scrutiny from inside and outside the party. \u201cKeir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions,\u201d Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOperation save Starmer: No 10 chief forced out to buy PM time\u201d was the i paper splash. Its report said McSweeney\u2019s resignation might calm some nerves inside the Labour, while others described Starmer as \u201cfatally wounded \u2026 a dead man walking\u201d.<\/p>\n

The i Paper front page Photograph: The i Paper<\/p>\n

The Express posed the question that will dominate talk around Westminster on Monday: \u201cAre Starmer\u2019s days numbered as key aide resigns?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fate of prime minister Keir Starmer dominates the UK front pages on Monday after his embattled chief…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-416226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}