00:00Well, we're going to start in Britain, where the Prime Minister's Director of Communications,
00:05Tim Allen, has resigned from the Downing Street team.
00:09He is the latest victim in the fallout from the government's handling of the Epstein affair.
00:16He follows Keir Starmer's Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney, who stepped down yesterday.
00:21This evening, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is to meet with his Labour Party MPs
00:25in a desperate bid to stave off mounting calls for his own resignation.
00:31Benedict Paviot is in London with the latest on all this.
00:35Hi, Benedict. Good to have you with us. Things are moving quickly.
00:39Tell us about this latest resignation. Tim Allen, what's behind all that?
00:45Keir Starmer is clearly in danger, in danger of losing his job as UK Prime Minister.
00:52Things are moving extremely rapidly. Yes, we knew that the Epstein files had rocked the royal family.
01:00That has been going on for some time. And by the way, the king got heckled during a walk about this morning
01:05about Epstein and what his younger brother Andrew's involvement with Epstein.
01:11But moving to politics, to lose Morgan McSweeney yesterday, who is the man behind Keir Starmer.
01:20Keir Starmer is a former lawyer, a former director of public prosecutions, seen as a technocrat.
01:26It is really Morgan McSweeney who was the man behind him being elected as leader of the Labour Party
01:34when the Labour Party was in opposition.
01:36Then, let's remember, we're in January 2026, but only in July 2024,
01:43that same Keir Starmer and Morgan McSweeney that we're seeing on screen there
01:47managed to really get a resoundering, some said lineslide, victory of the Labour Party.
01:53And yet, what we are witnessing is Keir Starmer losing his grip, his control,
01:59which is essential for Prime Minister, of his very own party that has a huge majority in Parliament.
02:06So, to lose Morgan McSweeney, and now we're going to discover possibly in the next few hours and days,
02:11if there are days left, what Keir Starmer is like without Morgan McSweeney,
02:17and then to lose your director of communications, Tim Allen, this morning,
02:21the questions that are being asked are very much, who is next?
02:25So, this is backroom crucial stuff, but will there be any ministerial resignations?
02:32What is seen here, the way it's being really interpreted, is by losing yesterday Morgan McSweeney,
02:38it was already saying that on the one hand it had bought Keir Starmer a bit of time,
02:42because there's no obvious contender to inherit the crown.
02:47Various people and names mentioned have got some issues, which we can go into if we have time,
02:53but if not, I'll park that to one side.
02:56But the questions now, you know, advisors advise, ministers decide,
03:02and the Prime Minister is the one who decided to appoint Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington.
03:07So, the big questions are, what is going to happen behind closed doors at this weekly meeting,
03:12which Keir Starmer sometimes addresses, and is addressing tonight,
03:16of what is called here the PLP, the Parliamentary Labour Party.
03:21Can he convince enough Labour MPs tonight that this reset that he wants will actually work,
03:29that he will have a team behind him, not just one that is working for him in number 10,
03:37domestically and internationally, but also in Parliament,
03:41and that his MPs don't want him gone.
03:43So, there is huge speculation about what's going to happen tonight
03:48and how long more Keir Starmer can remain at the head of this country and the head of the Labour Party.
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