Top Scottish Labour candidate says Keir Starmer is a 'disaster' who must quit immediately
A Scottish Labour candidate has urged Keir Starmer to stand down immediately over the Peter Mandelson scandal.Monica Lennon said the Prime Minister was a “disaster” and urged him to put “country before personal ambition” by quitting ahead of the Holyrood election.Starmer is battling to save his job after his catastrophic decision to appoint Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US.He did so despite knowing that Mandelson had continued his toxic friendship with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.The PM will make a statement in the Commons today after further revelations about the appointment.Mandelson, who was sacked earlier this year, was given the green light even though he failed vetting.READ MORE: Reform candidate blasted 'deplorable' Nigel Farage and derided party as a 'complete set of c***s'READ MORE: Millionaire banker Malcolm Offord criticises minimum wage rises for low paid workersA “furious” Starmer said he did not know about the rejection.With the PM facing calls to go, Lennon, the candidate for Rutherglen and Cambusland, said Starmer must quit without hesitation.Scottish Labour are behind in the polls and party activists say the Prime Minister is hugely unpopular on the doorsteps.Speaking to the Record, Lennon said: “We don’t need the results of a forensic parliamentary inquiry to tell us what is already staring us in the face: Keir Starmer’s position as Prime Minister is untenable. He should resign immediately.“I have said it before and I am doubling down now. The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador was not just a lapse in judgment; it was a betrayal of the standards the public expects from a Labour government.“When the "Prince of Darkness" was brought back into the fold, it made my skin crawl. Now, as the full extent of the vetting failures and the Epstein shadows come to light, the "forensic" mask has slipped.”Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar urged Starmer to quit in February, but the PM managed to cling on.Lennon said: “I want to be clear in my support for Anas Sarwar. He took the difficult, principled step of calling time on this leadership when others remained silent. Anas was right. There have been too many mistakes and too many misjudgements. While others have been sacked or forced to take the fall, the buck stops at the very top.“The timing, just weeks away from the May 7 elections, is undoubtedly difficult. But standing down now is an act of putting country before personal ambition. Keir has become a distraction. Across the UK, the good work being done by the UK government is being drowned out because the frontman is a disaster.“In Scotland, we have a historic chance to boot out an SNP government that has spent 19 years blaming everyone else for their own failures. We need a new approach - ministers who admit when they are wrong and take responsibility.“Scottish Labour is ready with a costed, sensible manifesto to fix our NHS, schools, and housing. We offer principled leadership that focuses on making lives better, not managing scandals.“For the sake of the hardworking Scots who have waited long enough: let’s clean up politics and get Scotland working again.”Lennon, who is on the soft Left of the party, has been a Central Scotland MSP since 2016.
