Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander has said Labour MPs will be feeling “despondent” following a chaotic week which has seen the sacking of Lord Mandelson and the resignation of Angela Rayner.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing questions over why he appointed Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US despite his known links to the convicted paedophile Jeffery Epstein.
The government said Mandelson was dismissed after new information about the extent of the two men’s friendship came out this week.
The prime minister is now in the position of searching for a new ambassador to Washington, just days before the US President arrives for a state visit.
Speaking to Breakfast, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said: “Many of us were devastated by [deputy PM] Angela Rayner’s departure from the government last week.
“She’s an extraordinary woman who’s overcome the most extraordinary challenges and we are grieving and feel quite acutely that sense of loss.
“Now to have the dismissal of Peter Mandelson just the next week, I totally get it, of course Labour MPs will be despondent that in two weeks in a row we have seen significant resignations from public service.
“These are not the headlines any of us in government or in Parliament would have chosen or wanted.
“But the fact is when the evidence emerged, action had to be taken and we are looking forward, therefore, to moving on.”
Some Labour MPs have expressed anger at how the situation with Mandelson has been handled.
Paula Barker – who dropped out of the deputy Labour leader race on Thursday – said: “The delay in sacking him has only served to further erode the trust and confidence in our government and politics in the round.”
Charlotte Nichols said Mandelson’s sacking was “not immediate enough unfortunately, as he should never have been appointed in the first place”.
Sadik Al-Hassan said there were “serious questions about the vetting process of the ambassador”.
