Sir Keir Starmer told Labour MPs “I'm not prepared to walk away” as he fights for his political survival amid mounting calls for him to resign.
The Prime Minister addressed a packed meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in Westminster on Monday evening, hours after a bombshell call from Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar for him to step down.
Sir Keir, flanked by his Cabinet, struck a defiant note, telling MPs: "After having fought so hard for the chance to change our country, I'm not prepared to walk away from my mandate and my responsibility to my country, or to plunge us into chaos as others have done."
The Prime Minister addressed his MPs amid anger over his appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US despite knowing that his links with Jeffrey Epstein continued after the financier’s conviction for child sex offences.
Arguing he had changed the Crown Prosecution Service so it "better served victims of violence against women and girls" and changed the Labour Party so it could win an election, he said: "I have won every fight I've ever been in."
Downing Street sources characterised the Prime Minister as "absolutely determined" but said he acknowledged his operation had not been "open or inclusive enough", and pledged to give more weight to the views of the PLP in a meeting described by MPs present as broadly positive towards Sir Keir.
At Monday night's meeting there were more than 30 interruptions for applause from MPs, although one critic of the PM compared the scene with the Battle of the Little Bighorn - the Wild West massacre known as Custer's Last Stand.
Sir Keir also paid tribute to his former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, and apologised again for his decision to appoint Mandelson.
And he issued a rallying call to his MPs, urging them to unite against Reform UK, describing the fight against Nigel Farage's party as "the fight of our lives".
He said: "It goes to the heart and soul of who we are as a party, as a government, and as a country, what it is to be British. And if they ever get in, they will divide, divide, divide. And it will tear this beautiful country apart. That is the fight of our times."
He added: "I'll tell you this, as long as I have breath in my body, I'll be in that fight, on behalf of the country that I love and I believe in, against those that want to tear it up."
Labour was plunged into civil war at the top level as the party’s Scottish leader told Sir Keir Starmer to quit.
Mr Sarwar used a hastily arranged press conference in the early afternoon to call for the PM to resign over the Mandelson scandal.
Mr Sarwar said: "The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change."
He stressed it was up to Cabinet ministers now to make their “own decisions” about Sir Keir’s future.
A string of Cabinet ministers swiftly responded by rallying to the PM’s support.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy messaged on X: “Keir Starmer won a massive mandate 18 months ago, for five years to deliver on Labour’s manifesto that we all stood on.
“We should let nothing distract us from our mission to change Britain and we support the Prime Minister in doing that.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves stressed: “With Keir as our Prime Minister we are turning the country around.”
Communities Secretary Steve Reed also came to the PM’s support.
“Keir led our party to victory and won a mandate for change,” he posted on X.
Speaking to Sky News's Electoral Dysfunction podcast Health Secretary Wes Streeting acknowledged that the atmosphere was "febrile", but said that "Keir Starmer doesn't need to resign".
Mr Streeting, who has made no secret of his leadership ambitions, called on colleagues to give the PM "a chance".
Later, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who just days ago led a Commons revolt against Sir Keir on the Mandelson papers, joined a full list of Cabinet ministers backing the PM, saying he had her “full support”.
Mr Sarwar looked isolated, though he would have distanced Scottish Labour from the main party ahead of the elections for the Scottish Parliament.
But his decision to speak out has dealt a blow to Sir Keir who some Labour MPs believe has only bought himself time until after the May local elections, which are expected to be very bad for Labour, before a more co-ordinated move is launched to oust him.
The timing of when Cabinet ministers came out to back the PM on Monday afternoon will also be closely analysed as some may be seen to have been waiting to see if a major revolt was under way, or not, before publicly voicing their support for the premier.
Earlier, Sir Keir’s director of communications quit as the Prime Minister appeared to be losing grip on No10.
Tim Allan’s departure comes after the PM’s chief-of-staff Morgan McSweeney resigned 24 hours earlier over the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US.
In a statement, Mr Allan said: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No10 team to be built.
“I wish the PM and his team every success.”
It was not clear if Mr Allan had quit of his own volition or if his departure was driven by Labour MPs demanding a complete reset of Sir Keir’s Downing Street team.
But his announcement plunged Sir Keir’s attempts to remain Prime Minister into unprecedented jeopardy.
Downing Street was forced to deny that Sir Keir was going to quit.
Asked if Sir Keir was going to resign today, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "No. The Prime Minister is concentrating on the job in hand.
“He is getting on with the job of delivering change across the country.”
Perhaps surprisingly given the crisis at the heart of Government, the No10 spokesman described the PM’s mood this morning as "upbeat" and "confident" as he gave a speech to No 10 staff.
Amid the latest turmoil in No10, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: "It's quite clear that Keir Starmer does not have a grip on his Government.
"He is in office, but not in power, and our country is not being governed.”
Earlier, a senior minister denied Sir Keir was on the brink of resigning and issued a desperate plea to Labour MPs not to try to topple him.
The Prime Minister was facing fresh calls to quit from within an increasingly mutinous Labour party after the resignation of his top aide Mr McSweeney on Sunday over the Peter Mandelson storm.
But Skills Minister Baroness Smith denied reports that Sir Keir was about to stand down, stressing that he wanted to focus on issues such as improving the NHS, easing the cost-of-living crisis and tackling violence against women.
“The last thing that the country or the party could do with at the moment is a lengthy leadership campaign,” she stressed on Sky News.
It comes a day after Mr McSweeney quit as Sir Keir’s chief of staff, taking “full responsibility” for giving the Prime Minister advice that resulted in the “wrong” appointment.
But scrutiny of Sir Keir’s own judgment is mounting as critics, including some of his MPs, have highlighted that he made the final decision.
The pressure on his premiership looks unlikely to ease as the Government prepares for the lengthy process of releasing tens of thousands of emails, messages and documents relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
Sir Keir believes the files will prove the former Labour grandee lied about the extent of his ties to the notorious paedophile Epstein during his vetting.
Sir Keir and Mr McSweeney, blamed by many for pushing for his ally Lord Mandelson to get the coveted ambassadorship, mutually came to the decision that it was the right moment for a new chief-of-staff, it is understood.
The Prime Minister credited his longtime adviser’s “dedication, loyalty and leadership” for Labour’s 2024 general election win and said he owed him a “debt of gratitude” in a statement that did not mention the Lord Mandelson fiasco.
Mr McSweeney’s deputies, Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, have been appointed joint acting chiefs of staff.
Two unnamed Cabinet ministers were quoted by The Times as saying Sir Keir was “weaker” and “could stand down at any moment”, a claim No 10 said was “categorically untrue”.
Union chiefs also heaped pressure on the Labour leader, with Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright saying he should resign.
Sir Keir was also expected to speak to the women’s PLP after Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday and make on-camera interventions this week.
He and Mr McSweeney have pinned blame on vetting by the security services for failing to disprove Lord Mandelson’s claims that he barely knew the late financier, which were later dramatically debunked by disclosures in the so-called Epstein files.
