UK PM Starmer pledges to never walk away from his job

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to never quit his job to change the UK, ignoring challenges to his authority from the Scottish Labor leader and others in the party calling for him to resign.

Under pressure over his appointment of Labor Party veteran Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington DC over his close ties to former US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Starmer fought back, urging his party to fight not among themselves but against the populist UK Reform Party, whom he called the real enemy.

A day after the biggest challenge to his authority, in which Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar called on him to resign and lost his second deputy within days, he visited a community center in southern England to try to show that his political career is anything but dead.

Starmer told an audience: “I will never walk away from the task I have been given to change this country.”

“I will never walk away from the people I was charged with fighting for and the country I love.”

Starmer said the real struggle was with “the politics of reform, the politics of divide, divide, divide, victimization, victimization, victimization that will tear our country apart.”

He won a reprieve late on Monday after gaining the backing of his team of senior ministers, potential leadership rivals such as former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and many Labor MPs in parliament.

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

After his speech to the Çözüm Foundation think tank, he said, “Yes, I have my support, the government also has its support.”

“I think what we all need to do now is to accelerate the pace of change, and that means greater unity across the whole Labor family.”

Revelations about the depth of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein have spurred the biggest threat yet for Starmer, who has repeatedly said the former ambassador and former Labor ambassador lied about his ties to the late sex offender.

Last month, the US Department of Justice released emails suggesting that Mandelson had leaked to Epstein discussions about possible asset sales and tax changes in the UK during the financial crisis.

Mandelson has not commented publicly about the allegations that he leaked the documents and did not respond to messages seeking comment.

He is currently under police investigation for alleged misconduct.

Energy Minister Ed Miliband said on Tuesday that Labor MPs were “looking over the cliff… and they didn’t like what they saw”.

“And they thought the right thing was to unite behind Keir,” Miliband told the BBC.

Starmer said he had the “most working-class cabinet” in history but to suggest that this meant anyone from a poorer background had a fair chance in life was “complete nonsense”.

He reflected on the challenges his brother faced as he explained why he was so determined to fight in Downing Street.

Starmer’s younger brother Nick died in 2024, aged 60.

“He had difficulties learning growing up, spending his adult life moving from job to job in near poverty,” Starmer said. he said.

“This system, this political system, did not work for him, and there are billions of people in the same boat, children in poverty, young people who do not have access to the opportunities they deserve.

“Millions of people are being left behind by a system that is ill-suited to them, not being given the dignity, respect and opportunities they deserve.

“And I am fighting for them. I am their prime minister, this is their government, and I will never give up this fight.”

with AP and PA