LAST UPDATE | 9 Feb

KEIR STARMER WILL continue his fight for political survival today as he’s to face questions from his own MPs over the appointment of Peter Mandelson, who is under policy inquiry over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. 

This afternoon, the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, called on Starmer to resign. 

Sarwar issued the demand at a hastily convened press conference in Glasgow today.

“The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change,” Sarwar said. 

“The situation in Downing Street is not good enough. There have been too many mistakes.

“They promised they were going to be different, but too much has happened. Have there been good things? Of course, there have been many of them, but no one knows them and no one can hear them because they’re being drowned out.

“That’s why it cannot continue.”

A number of senior ministers have come out today with statements backing the embattled prime minister. 

Labour Party deputy leader Lucy Powell said Starmer had her “full support”, but added there was a need to be more “inclusive and collaborative in the way we work”.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband are among those who have expressed their support for Starmer today. 

The pressure has continued to mount on Starmer, with a second senior staff member at No 10 quitting their post today. 

Downing Street communications chief Tim Allan said that he was quitting his post to make way to allow “a new No 10 team to be built”. 

Yesterday saw the dramatic exit of Starmer’s chief of staff and longtime ally, Cork man Morgan McSweeney. 

McSweeney released a statement that said that he advised Starmer to make the Mandelson appointment, but further said that he did not oversee the subsequent vetting process. 

Starmer will today address the Parliamentary Labour party, as many of his elected officials are angry about revelations that he appointed Mandelson as US ambassador despite knowing his links with Epstein continued after the notorious paedophile’s conviction for child sex offences. 

The latest release of three million ‘Epstein files’ also revealed that Mandelson potentially passed on market-sensitive government information to the convicted sex offender, including advance notice of the EU’s €500 bn bailout to save the Euro. 

Mandelson has said that he did not act criminally and was not motivated by financial gain.

A photo has also been released of Mandelson in his underwear talking to a woman (whose face is redacted) who is wearing a bathrobe. 

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It’s not clear when the photograph was taken, by Sky News investigations has said that it was taken from inside Epstein’s Paris apartment. 

The UK government is now preparing for its own files release, as tens of thousands of emails, messages and documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment are to be released. 

Several Labour MPs have already called for Starmer to go for initially appointing Mandelson, who exited his ambassador role last year. 

Brian Leishman, Ian Byrne, and Kim Johnson have said he should also resign.

York MP Rachael Maskell has said that McSweeney’s departure is “a start” but that Starmer now needs to turn away from the “factionalism” she claims was brought about by the top aide. 

Unions have also criticised Starmer, with Fire Brigades general secretary Steve Wright saying he should resign. 

Starmer has tasked his officials with proving that Mandelson lied during the vetting process associated with his appointment when he claimed that he barely knew Epstein. 

With reporting from Press Association