00:00A defiant Keir Starmer says he's refusing to walk away from his mandate, addressing
00:05Labour lawmakers at a closed-door meeting on Monday evening.
00:09The British Prime Minister said he's not stepping down, despite facing calls for his
00:14resignation from within his own party, including from the Scottish Labour leader.
00:19My first priority and my first loyalty is to my country, Scotland.
00:26That's why the distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.
00:33Starmer has faced fierce criticism over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador
00:39to the United States, when he knew Mandelson had maintained links with the convicted sex
00:44offender Jeffrey Epstein.
00:46The British Prime Minister has seen two high-profile resignations from his entourage over the scandal.
00:52His communications chief Tim Allen resigned on Monday, following in the footsteps of Morgan
00:57McSweeney, who stood down on Sunday.
01:00But there was far from consensus within the Labour Party over calls for Starmer to go.
01:06Several cabinet ministers and high-profile figures rallied behind him on Monday.
01:10Meanwhile, reform leader Nigel Farage took advantage of the moment to criticise Starmer, ahead of
01:17important local elections this May.
01:35Labour was already lagging behind the hard right to reform party in opinion polls before
01:40the revelations over Peter Mandelson.
01:43And in a recent poll by YouGov, 50% of those surveyed said the British Prime Minister should
01:49step down.
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