Starmer must go, says TUV, while DUP brand Prime Minister's handling of Mandelson affair 'a shambles'

Over the weekend pressure has continued to build on the Labour leader, with the matter already seeing calls for him to resign from both the Tories and the SNP.

Now Mr Allister has added to their ranks, stating it was “unbelievable” that Mr Mandelson was appointed to a role as ambassador to the US despite failing vetting checks.

He told the News Letter: “The position of the Prime Minister is simply untenable.

“The country is expected to believe that while he was making the most important diplomatic appointment the UK can make, the Prime Minister never asked if his nominee had passed security vetting? Unbelievable.

“The Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the people and he needs to do the right thing. That means he needs to go.”

On Monday, Sir Keir is set to come under the microscope in parliament over the affair. As the pressure piled on today, DUP deputy leader Michelle McIlveen reinforced that he has serious questions to answer.

She told the News Letter: “The public has a right to expect that those who hold the highest elected offices of state are fully in command of the decisions being made on behalf of the public. That is a basic requirement of leadership, not an unreasonable standard.

“The questions surrounding the Prime Minister and the appointment of Peter Mandelson are serious. The situation as currently outlined is a shambles and a poor reflection on how decisions are taken and information communicated.”

Although she stated that, along with the rest of the nation, she’s still waiting to hear the full facts around Mr Mandelson’s appointment, she suggested the situation could turn out to be serious enough to warrant Sir Keir’s resignation.

Said Ms McIlveen: “The Prime Minister may have been badly let down, in which case more individuals should resign or be sacked.

“Alternatively, if the Prime Minister knew more than he admitted over a very significant period and therefore misled both parliament and the public, then he must go.

“His task now is to explain urgently to parliament and the public what has happened in a full and transparent way and why untruthful information was widely conveyed.”

Sir Keir was also criticised by shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart MP. Speaking on BBC One, he said that despite a senior civil servant’s resignation over the matter “there’s one person who is responsible for everything that’s happened, and that’s the Prime Minister”.

He stated: “It was the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson to the most sensitive diplomatic posting we have, and we now know that he appointed someone who was a security risk to do that very sensitive job – and ultimately, responsibility has to lie with him.”

Adding that “everybody else is being thrown under the bus” because of the affair, Mr Burghart stated: “[Sir Keir has] lost his chief of staff, he’s lost his head of comms, he’s lost the cabinet secretary, he’s now lost the head of the Foreign Office. Why will the prime minister not take responsibility?”

It has been reported that Mr Mandelson failed security checks in January 2025. A government spokesman has said the decision to clear him anyway was taken by Foreign Office officials and the Prime Minister wasn’t aware of the override until this month.