The rush to appease Trump led Keir Starmer into this ethical void | Rafael Behr

Peter Mandelson’s flaws were mistaken for credentials to represent Britain in the court of a rogue president

You can’t kill something that is already dead.

New details about Peter Mandelson’s disastrous appointment as Britain’s ambassador to Washington can trigger more paroxysms of outrage in Westminster.

They can sharpen the pitch of opposition calls for the prime minister to resign.

They can reinforce the view among Labour MPs that Keir Starmer shouldn’t lead them into a general election.

But they can’t produce consensus around a replacement, or invent a way to choose one without self-destructive factional feuding.

Labour MPs’ craving for better leadership has been https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/17/labour-mps-keir-starmer-prime-minister">finely balanced with fear of holding a contest and emerging with someone worse.

There is no final straw yet to come because the camel’s back was broken months ago.