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00:04It was supposed to be a fresh start for Britain.
00:08Our country has voted decisively for change.
00:13After 14 years of Tory government that descended into political soap opera,
00:19Keir Starmer promised to bring stability.
00:22There was a really clear mission statement to try and fix Britain,
00:26to stop the chaos and to have the grown-ups back in the room.
00:29We have a huge amount of work to do.
00:32Armed with one of the largest majorities in British political history,
00:37Starmer had a clear mandate for change.
00:40His campaign around the concept of change
00:42was simply about getting rid of the old
00:45without really understanding what the new meant.
00:48But what did he mean by change?
00:51Because nearly two years down the line,
00:53the political landscape is anything but stable.
00:57With unpopular policies...
00:59Shame on you, Keir Starmer.
01:02...alienating even his own backbenchers...
01:05The removal of the winter fuel allowance landed like a bucket of sick.
01:10...losing voters left and right.
01:13Their argument is, we've got to out-reform reform.
01:15We've alienated everyone.
01:18...and flawed decision-making.
01:20Nobody knew what Peter was up to.
01:23It was a huge, jaw-dropping shock.
01:25Critics say that Keir Starmer is simply more of the same.
01:30It was almost impossible to discern
01:32what Keir Starmer's plans for government were.
01:36Keir Starmer is someone with a really deep-rooted sense
01:39of what he believes to be right and fair.
01:41And now, the war in the Middle East
01:43is tearing apart old alliances
01:46and causing turmoil in the special relationship.
01:49I consider President Trump's remarks
01:51to be insulting and, frankly, appalling.
01:54This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with.
01:58The Westminster vultures are circling the Prime Minister.
02:02Next month's local elections could spell the end for Keir Starmer.
02:06Will he become the sixth Prime Minister
02:08in just ten years to lose his job?
02:11And is it his fault,
02:12or has Britain simply become ungovernable?
02:27Whether you voted Labour or not,
02:31we will carry the responsibility of your trust
02:35as we rebuild our country.
02:40The town of Ramsgate on the North Kent coast
02:43is typical of many of Britain's
02:46economically struggling coastal towns.
02:49My government will serve you.
02:54Politics can be a force for good.
02:57We will show that.
02:58A former Conservative stronghold,
03:01Labour won big here in 2024,
03:03with a 16% swing,
03:05receiving 40% of the vote.
03:08But was that victory all that it seemed?
03:13What happens in 2024,
03:16in this constituency,
03:17in East Thanham?
03:18The Labour vote,
03:19in numerical terms,
03:21actually goes down.
03:23Labour only win
03:24because of the collapse
03:25in the Tory vote.
03:27And that is something
03:27that you see
03:28in place
03:29after place
03:30after place.
03:32After 14 years of Tory rule,
03:34for many,
03:35Labour was seen
03:36as the least worst,
03:37the default option.
03:39That massive figure
03:41has been delivered
03:42with a relatively small percentage
03:44of the people.
03:45That looks like love,
03:47but that is a loveless landslide.
03:50The idea of Labour winning
03:52what has been dubbed
03:53a loveless landslide
03:54is supported
03:55by an exclusive new opinion poll
03:57conducted for this programme.
04:0054% of voters
04:02said that Labour
04:03and Keir Starmer
04:04won the last election
04:06simply because
04:06the alternative options
04:08were worse.
04:11Keir Starmer won
04:12a big, historic election victory
04:15by talking about change.
04:17But to govern,
04:17you need something
04:19slightly different.
04:20A plan.
04:22While there was a plan
04:23to win the general election,
04:25there wasn't a plan
04:26for government.
04:27So I think a lot of people
04:29thought Labour
04:29had a secret plan
04:31that they were going to implement
04:32after polling day,
04:33and there wasn't one.
04:36Previous landslide-winning
04:38prime ministers
04:39have had a clear
04:40and coherent vision
04:41for governing.
04:42Whether it was
04:43Margaret Thatcher's plan
04:45to roll back
04:45the frontiers of the state,
04:46Tony Blair
04:48and his new Labour
04:49Third Way,
04:50or David Cameron's
04:52Big Society
04:53and Austerity Programme.
04:55They were all driven
04:56by a distinct set
04:57of political principles.
05:00I've never known
05:01whether Keir
05:02has got any form
05:03of ideology.
05:04I don't know
05:05what he stands for
05:07or what he wants
05:08to do in government.
05:10I don't think
05:11the country
05:12has a clear sense
05:13of what Keir Starmer's
05:15political mission is.
05:17If I'm honest,
05:18I don't know
05:19if the Labour Party
05:19has a clear sense
05:21of what that is,
05:21and I'm not even sure
05:23if he and his team
05:25have a clear sense
05:26of what that is.
05:28I fear
05:29that Keir Starmer
05:30believed
05:31that it was enough
05:33simply to be
05:34more decent,
05:36more public-spirited,
05:37basically a better person
05:39than the evil Tories,
05:41and that his decency,
05:44as he saw it,
05:45combined with
05:46an appetite
05:47on the part of the country
05:48for change
05:49would be enough.
05:50But it's never enough.
05:53If you want to succeed
05:54in government,
05:55you need to have
05:56a plan for government.
05:58In private,
05:59even those who work
06:00closely with the Prime Minister
06:01say he lacks
06:02any real interest
06:03in a political ideology,
06:05that he is almost passive.
06:10There is a paradox
06:12about the man.
06:13He is almost uniquely
06:14uninterested
06:15in political ideas.
06:17Cabinet colleagues
06:18say the same thing,
06:18which is that he has
06:19reached the apex
06:20of our politics,
06:21whilst at the same time,
06:23more than any other
06:23Prime Minister
06:24I can think of,
06:25being fundamentally
06:26anti-political.
06:32I think he is
06:32in politics
06:33because he wants
06:34to make the country
06:35better.
06:35And I think
06:36that that is,
06:37I mean,
06:38that's it.
06:39I don't think
06:40there is a detailed
06:41sort of Starmer
06:42philosophy.
06:45I think the Prime Minister
06:46took a proudly
06:47pragmatic approach
06:48to these things.
06:49His view was,
06:50I think,
06:50that visions
06:51were for profits.
06:52And actually,
06:53he deliberately
06:54travelled fairly
06:54ideologically
06:56light.
06:58The truth is,
07:00you don't have
07:00a set of ideas
07:01which binds
07:02your cabinet together,
07:04which binds
07:04your party together,
07:05which tells your MPs,
07:06which tell the public
07:07what you're all about.
07:09Then guess what?
07:10Division starts
07:11to creep in.
07:12And every tiny
07:13little crisis
07:14seems to blow you
07:16off course
07:16all the worse
07:17because you,
07:19the party,
07:20and the public
07:21don't know
07:21where you're going.
07:25And new opinion polls
07:26seems to confirm
07:27this view.
07:28Voters were asked
07:29to describe
07:30Keir Starmer
07:31in one word
07:32of their choice.
07:33Incompetent,
07:34useless,
07:35and weak
07:35were the words
07:36most frequently
07:37used to describe
07:38the PM.
07:39Pragmatic and good
07:40also came up,
07:42though,
07:42in smaller numbers.
07:45It's a less
07:46than stellar verdict
07:47for the man
07:48who promised
07:48to make politics
07:49work for the people
07:50once again.
07:52So what was
07:53the response
07:54when we asked
07:55voters what
07:55they thought
07:56Keir Starmer
07:57stood for?
07:58Nothing
07:59was the top
08:00answer.
08:04Keir went
08:05from our
08:06second worst
08:07ever election
08:08result to our
08:09third best
08:10election result
08:11in one
08:12parliamentary
08:13period.
08:14So five years.
08:15That is an
08:16extraordinary
08:18achievement.
08:18And in a sense,
08:19he didn't have
08:20time to lay
08:21the groundwork.
08:22There wasn't
08:23a lot of time
08:24for preparation.
08:25I think what's
08:26been a mystery
08:27to many of us,
08:28given how long
08:29the current
08:30Labour government
08:30had in opposition
08:31to prepare for
08:32power,
08:33is that it does
08:34feel like there
08:34was a lack
08:35of really
08:35detailed planning
08:37and a sense
08:38that actually
08:39incoming ministers
08:40didn't have
08:41their programmes
08:42worked out.
08:45But Starmer
08:46sees himself
08:46differently
08:47as a calm,
08:48considered
08:49problem solver.
08:50The ideology
08:50isn't the solution,
08:52but the problem,
08:53that what drives
08:54him is opportunity
08:55for kids
08:55from backgrounds
08:56like his own.
08:58When you hear
08:59him talk about
08:59the power of
09:01education,
09:01the belief that
09:02where you're from
09:03shouldn't determine
09:04what you go on
09:04to achieve in life,
09:05and this real sense
09:07that working people
09:08have lost out
09:09in recent decades,
09:10I think that
09:11really does
09:13motivate him,
09:14that really
09:14does inspire him.
09:15Go, go, go,
09:17go, go, go.
09:18Good intentions
09:19are one thing,
09:20but do the public,
09:21even his own
09:22cabinet,
09:23know what his
09:24plan for government
09:25is?
09:29He's the top
09:30boss,
09:31and he has
09:31all of the people
09:32reporting into him,
09:33basically all his
09:34cabinet,
09:34and they all
09:35control a particular
09:36area,
09:37and he doesn't
09:39want to be
09:39bothered with
09:40quite a lot
09:41of the intricacies
09:42of what they're
09:43dealing with,
09:43and he hates
09:44having to
09:44adjudicate
09:45disagreements
09:45between them.
09:47So everyone
09:48has had their
09:48own individual
09:49strategy,
09:50but there's
09:51been very little
09:51leadership from
09:52the top to
09:53pull it all
09:54together.
09:55He certainly
09:55had plenty on
09:57his plate,
09:58and a sometime
09:58hostile media to
09:59boot,
10:00but without that
10:01leadership,
10:02voters are
10:02inevitably left
10:04wondering what
10:04to make of the
10:06Prime Minister.
10:06Our exclusive new
10:08opinion poll suggests
10:09there's widespread
10:10confusion among
10:11the public over
10:12the direction
10:12Keir Starmer is
10:14taking the
10:14country.
10:15Nearly two in
10:16three voters said
10:17that Labour did
10:18not have a clear
10:19plan for government.
10:23So the public are
10:24confused about the
10:25man, his own
10:26colleagues are
10:27confused as well.
10:28What exactly did
10:29Keir Starmer mean
10:30when he said he
10:31would bring change?
10:33Perhaps in his own
10:34mind what he really
10:35meant was himself,
10:36that he would have
10:37more integrity,
10:38be more competent,
10:39bring more stability,
10:41decency over ideology.
10:43Given the scale of
10:45Britain's financial
10:46problems which he'd
10:46inherited, it was
10:48never going to be
10:49enough.
10:49We have inherited a
10:51projected overspend of
10:52£22 billion.
10:54A £22 billion hole
10:56in the public
10:57finances now.
10:58Not in the future,
11:00but now.
11:01The first big
11:02outings were Rachel
11:04we've seen it's all
11:06doom and gloom and
11:06actually everything is
11:08terrible and this is
11:09going to be really
11:10difficult and everyone
11:11was like, oh, right,
11:12but we just, I thought
11:13things were going to
11:14get better because we
11:15just voted for change.
11:17Over the next 18
11:18months, the new
11:19government seemed to
11:20stumble from crisis to
11:22crisis with confusion
11:23over Keir Starmer's
11:24vision and a lack of
11:26clear direction,
11:27resulting in rebellion
11:28among his MPs and
11:30the public alike.
11:32leading to devastating
11:34flagship policy U-turns.
11:36It's a mistake.
11:37Admit it.
11:38And back down.
11:41And the Prime
11:43Minister's own personal
11:44judgement being called
11:46into question.
11:58Just weeks after the
12:00new Labour government
12:01swept her power in
12:022024, the Chancellor,
12:03Rachel Reeves, made
12:04her first policy
12:05announcement.
12:07But it wasn't the
12:09brave new door Labour
12:10supporters were hoping
12:12for.
12:13Today, I'm making the
12:15difficult decision that
12:16those not in receipt of
12:17pension credit or certain
12:18other means-tested
12:19benefits will no longer
12:21receive the winter fuel
12:22payment from this year
12:23onwards.
12:24The kind of debut
12:26policy announcement was
12:27the winter fuel
12:27allowance, which was
12:28such a bad policy and
12:32it felt so anti-Labour.
12:34Winter fuel, come no
12:35way!
12:36People were very, very
12:37angry.
12:38You're taking off money
12:39from the most vulnerable
12:41members of our society
12:42and that landed like a
12:46bucket of sick.
12:47Shame on you,
12:49Miss Donna.
12:50Shame on you!
12:51Shame on you!
12:53As public anger grew,
12:5452 Labour MPs refused to
12:57back the government on
12:58winter fuel payments,
12:59exposing deep division
13:01inside the party.
13:03A lot of backbenchers were
13:05very unhappy and the fact
13:06it wasn't even included in
13:08our manifesto was what made
13:10people very angry at that
13:12time as well.
13:13But a full ten months later,
13:16under mounting pressure
13:17from his own backbenchers,
13:19the Prime Minister backed
13:20down.
13:21As the economy improves,
13:23we want to ensure that as
13:24we go forward, more
13:26pensioners are eligible for
13:27winter fuel payments.
13:30Keir Starmer landed his
13:32government with a label that
13:33would come to haunt his early
13:35months in office.
13:36U-turn.
13:38I think it became clear
13:40over time that the winter
13:41fuel allowance was deeply
13:42unpopular, not removing it
13:44from those who are
13:45millionaires, because there's
13:46an obvious point of
13:47fairness there, but where
13:48unfortunately we did end up
13:49squeezing people a bit
13:50further down, you know, the
13:51income chain, and they
13:52really felt it.
13:53We did make the right call
13:54and moved into a better
13:55position.
13:57The U-turn on winter fuel
13:58payments alone is estimated
14:00to have cost the government
14:01£1.3 billion a year,
14:03but it wasn't a one-off.
14:05In the months that
14:07followed, U-turns became
14:08almost routine, as did
14:11rebellions from the back
14:12benches.
14:13The Prime Minister's
14:13authority eroded fast.
14:17Political capital was
14:19quickly squandered with MPs
14:21and public alike, over
14:22pensioners and winter fuel,
14:24over disabled people and
14:26welfare reform, over farmers
14:28and inheritance tax.
14:29It wasn't thought out, and
14:32it's a mistake.
14:34Admit it.
14:35And back down!
14:43Starmer's initial refusal to
14:45lift the two-child benefit cap
14:47infuriated many of his own
14:50backbenchers.
14:52So the one policy that
14:53we're advocating for that
14:55for a long period of time
14:56is scrapping the two-child
14:57limit.
14:58What do we do?
14:59We block the vote on that.
15:01Faced with another
15:02backbench backlash,
15:04Keir Starmer does what he's
15:05done before.
15:06He U-turns.
15:09We have made some mistakes
15:10as a government, and I've
15:11been upfront about that.
15:13In the budget, the
15:13Chancellor announced that
15:14we'd lift the two-child
15:15limit, alongside everything
15:16else that we've done,
15:17whether that's expanding
15:18childcare, expanding free
15:20school meals, new free
15:21breakfast clubs, a lot has
15:22happened on that front.
15:24It's perfectly true that
15:26most governments will U-turn
15:28from time to time.
15:29The problem with Starmer's
15:30U-turns is that people have
15:32found it difficult to
15:33discern what is the ground
15:35on which he's going to
15:35stand and fight.
15:38But for voters, the real
15:40issue isn't political U-turns.
15:43They voted for change,
15:45motivated by a desire to
15:47feel better off.
15:50Living standards in Britain
15:52for the past two decades
15:53have either been stagnant
15:54or declining, i.e.
15:56that British people are
15:57basically no richer than
15:59they were 20 years ago.
16:01That has not happened
16:02arguably ever, or at least
16:04since the Napoleonic War.
16:06So if you're asking, why
16:06does British politics seem
16:08so unstable?
16:09That is why British people
16:11in election after election
16:12or referendum or whatever
16:13are voting again and again
16:16for economic change, for
16:17material improvement in their
16:19lives and time and again,
16:21no matter what answer they
16:22choose, which party they
16:23choose, they don't seem to get
16:25it.
16:32Hi.
16:33Hi.
16:33How are you doing?
16:34Lovely to meet you.
16:35Nice to meet you.
16:35Welcome to Social Enterprise
16:36Kitchen.
16:36Well, no, thanks for having
16:37us.
16:39In Ramsgate on the Kent coast,
16:41organisations like the Social
16:42Enterprise Kitchen are helping
16:44to bridge the growing gap
16:45between wages and the rising
16:47cost of living.
16:49We try and keep everything to
16:51about 60% of the cost you
16:52would buy in a supermarket.
16:55After Keir Starmer's first
16:5720 months in office, are the
16:59numbers of people using services
17:00like this one beginning to
17:02fall?
17:03It's getting worse and not
17:06better.
17:07Yeah.
17:07We see between 500 and 600
17:09transactions every week.
17:12It has increased steadily as
17:13well.
17:14We have people who are in work
17:16who are coming here because,
17:18you know, by the end of the
17:20month, your money just isn't
17:22going as far.
17:22That's the reality of things
17:24right now.
17:29That reality is reflected in
17:32our own survey of 2,000 voters.
17:35We asked people what difference
17:37the government is making to
17:38their lives.
17:40Two in three voters said that
17:42the cost of living has actually
17:43got worse since Labour came to
17:45power.
17:46a similar number say Labour is
17:48acting too slowly to deliver
17:50change.
17:52Even more worrying for Keir
17:53Starmer is the fact that for
17:55those who supported him in
17:562024, fixing the cost of living
17:59crisis was the number one
18:01reason for voting Labour.
18:04The public are getting through
18:06prime ministers faster and
18:08faster.
18:09They're desperate to see change.
18:10They've been voting for change
18:11for the last 15 years at least,
18:13and they feel like they haven't
18:14seen it.
18:15For a time, Keir Starmer had an
18:18unhappy title, the most unpopular
18:20prime minister since records began,
18:23with just a 13% approval rating.
18:26His support was even lower than Liz
18:28Truss, the prime minister who
18:30survived in office for less than 50
18:32days.
18:34How do you account for that?
18:35How do you account for that?
18:35What's gone wrong?
18:36Something must have gone wrong.
18:37What do I think's gone wrong?
18:40I don't know.
18:42It doesn't seem to me to be at all fair to
18:46treat Keir Starmer as if he's some modern version of Liz Truss.
18:50The response to Keir in particular is totally disproportionate to what's happening.
18:58Some of that polling has begun to reverse, and the cabinet appears to be sticking with him.
19:04Keir is a decent, humble and straightforward person who just wants to do the best for the
19:10country, wants the country to improve, wants to play his part in making that happen. We had a golden
19:16opportunity, and we still have a golden opportunity, from that election in July 2024, and Labour
19:20governments really don't come around very often. We should never lose sight of that.
19:26But the prime minister's message must fight to be heard above the booming rhetoric of noisy
19:31arrivals.
19:33The Labour Party can fight back as much as they like. Frankly, their record in government
19:37so far is lamentable.
19:39In last May's local elections, Nigel Farage's Reform Party came out on top, winning the largest
19:46number of council seats, while Labour's own share of the vote plummeted.
19:51Farage's louder, simpler messaging resonated with a frustrated public, and reform continued
19:58to lead in national opinion polls.
20:00In response to reform's success, Starmer's rhetoric on immigration appeared to move significantly
20:06to the right in a matter of days.
20:10These rules become even more important. Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers,
20:17not a nation that walks forward together.
20:19His words horrified many on the left of his party.
20:24Their argument is, we've got to out-reform reform. They deny that, but that's the reality of what
20:29has happened and what's happening at the moment.
20:31Things they've said about an island of strangers. We had, in the party, relied on the support of our
20:39diverse communities for a long time, and taken it for granted. And I think that's no longer there.
20:49For the last year, Keir Starmer has framed the choice in British politics as between himself
20:55and Nigel Farage, between Labour and reform. Increasingly, though, we can see that the voters
21:01disagree, that they're looking elsewhere, that Labour's biggest problem right now isn't reform.
21:07It's the hemorrhaging of votes and voters to the party's left.
21:12This problem came to a head in February, in the Gorton and Denton by-election in Greater
21:18Manchester, in what had been a rock-solid Labour seat.
21:23Hannah Catherine Spencer is duly elected.
21:29In a shock result, the Greens won, with Labour coming a poor third behind reform.
21:36The election results for the party in Gorton and Denton was very devastating. His position
21:43on Gaza, for example, doesn't resonate very well. We need, as a party, to look at strategically
21:51what needs to happen moving forward, to re-energise, you know, to build trust and competence back
21:57again in the party. And we need to do that sooner rather than later.
22:02At the same time as really not having any impact whatsoever in addressing those that are voting
22:10for reform, it's alienated the whole section of those people who are very traditional Labour
22:17voters who are repelled by that language. And especially when Keir is calling people extremists,
22:23not just of the right, but of the left as well.
22:26Refugees are welcome here!
22:28We have now an era of really strong characters in politics.
22:35And those ones that are standing against Labour, that's going to eat away at the Labour majority.
22:44Keir Starmer has become known for his U-turns, but this green problem he now faces arguably
22:49arises from his biggest one of all. It is easy to forget now that Keir Starmer ran to be Labour
22:56leader on the party's left. He described Jeremy Corbyn as an ally and a friend. He had a suite
23:01of left-wing policy positions on which he became leader. He decided to entirely renege, seeking
23:08not to promote the left and their ideas, but to bury them. Now, that may have been smart politics
23:13at the time. But the long-term cost has been to alienate progressive left-wing voters who,
23:18in the form of the Greens, for the first time in a long time, have somewhere else to go.
23:23Something that will play out in those crucial May elections. But even those elections, as important
23:29as they are, may soon start to feel very small by comparison to events in a faraway country,
23:36politics of which will haunt us at home.
23:42With the world now confronting the political and economic impact of President Trump's war
23:48in Iran, is Keir Starmer the kind of leader Britain needs in this time of crisis?
23:54The United Kingdom was not involved in the initial strikes on Iran. That decision was deliberate.
24:02Could pragmatism over ideology now be a winning card?
24:18The U.S. and U.K. have a special relationship, very special, really like no other, passed down
24:24through the centuries.
24:27His greatest challenge has undoubtedly been dealing with President Trump. I think he's been
24:32pretty nimble in doing that, given that you couldn't really think of two more different
24:36people to have in a room together than Donald Trump and Keir Starmer.
24:40One of the areas where Keir Starmer has surprised, arguably on the upside, is in his handling of
24:45a relationship with the American President.
24:46At the start of Keir Starmer's premiership, his foreign policy was dominated by a desire
24:52to keep in Donald Trump's good graces.
24:55We remain each other's first partner in defence, ready to come to the other's aid, to counter
25:03threats, wherever and whenever they may arise.
25:06On the international stage, you know, at least initially, he seemed like something of a Trump whisperer, even.
25:15Dealing with someone like Trump, who is unprecedented in his capriciousness, means that that is a
25:21particularly difficult relationship to handle.
25:26And it was trying to deal with that capricious president and secure a good trade deal that led to perhaps
25:32his
25:32greatest moment of political peril back home.
25:35Peter is the right person to help us work with President Trump and to take this special relationship
25:41from strength to strength.
25:43Within a month of Trump's election, Keir Starmer made Lord Mandelson ambassador to the United States.
25:49I was gobsmacked when Starmer decided to appoint Mandelson as the U.S. ambassador.
25:57His appointment, said to have been heavily influenced by Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, was seen as a political gamble.
26:03They were really profoundly worried about how to manage that relationship with Donald Trump.
26:09And it was with that in mind that they were making the decision.
26:14He knew it was a risk. He knew that Mandelson had a reputation for unwise personal judgment.
26:18But he also knew that Mandelson had political and diplomatic gifts and might be the best person
26:24to bridge the gap between Labour and Trump.
26:27As a veteran of the era in which he was very prominent, were you surprised that Keir Starmer
26:31appointed Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador?
26:34No, I thought it was rather a good idea.
26:35And, you know, I hope all the other people who said they thought it was rather a good idea
26:38will admit they thought it was rather a good idea.
26:41What a beautiful accent.
26:43I'd like to have that accent.
26:45My mother would be proud.
26:47In Washington, he was thought of as someone with a lot of contacts, and contacts matter
26:53in Washington.
26:54One thing we don't need to fight over is trade, because...
27:05The gamble seemed to be paying off when Britain secured a lower tariff on import into the U.S.
27:11The most traditional allies.
27:14But in September, that all changed.
27:18Hundreds of thousands of Epstein files are finally released.
27:22Emails, videos, transcripts from a major investigation into the sex offender.
27:28The Prime Minister's judgment was called into question, particularly after revelations about
27:33the closeness of the relationship between billionaire convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Lord
27:39Mandelson.
27:40He was warned it was a general reputational risk.
27:42So, my question to the minister is very simple.
27:45Which feeling does you think the Prime Minister suffers from?
27:48Ignorance, arrogance, or both?
27:51It was common knowledge at the time that he'd had a relationship with Epstein.
27:57He had been found guilty of other misdemeanours too in the past.
28:03He'd had to resign in the past.
28:06Starmer eventually sacked Mandelson, but only after he'd initially defended the appointment
28:12at the dispatch box.
28:13Full due process was followed during this appointment, as it is with all ambassadors.
28:21And worse was to come.
28:23When it was revealed Mandelson may have been sharing privileged financial information with
28:28Epstein, something which led to his arrest in February.
28:31Were you surprised by those reports?
28:34I was very surprised.
28:34I wasn't surprised that Peter was a friend of Epstein.
28:38I think Victor has a propensity to be friendly with rich, powerful people, what he likes
28:43to do.
28:44But those reports of what was happening in 2010 and the information being passed, that's
28:49what the police are looking into.
28:50That was the shock.
28:51Peter Mandelson has always denied any wrongdoing.
28:55This is the biggest scandal in British politics for over one century.
29:00It's another instance where he went against his instincts, but he still did it anyway.
29:05And I think he has to own that.
29:06Scottish Labour leader Anna Sarwar was the first to break ranks.
29:11The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.
29:17And the PM was forced to apologise.
29:20I am sorry for having believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him.
29:25I think that the person who was largely responsible was Morgan McSweeney and he's taken responsibility
29:30for it and he's resigned.
29:32It was a catastrophic mistake.
29:34He was known as the Prince of Darkness for a particular reason.
29:38So he came with a lot of baggage.
29:43Peter Mandelson's appointment was arguably the biggest mistake of Keir Starmer's premiership.
29:49But on some of the biggest geopolitical problems of the age, he has seemed more assured.
29:59You got to be more thankful, because let me tell you, you don't have the cards.
30:03With us, you have the cards.
30:05But without us, you don't have any cards.
30:08After a very public spat between Trump and Zelensky in February 2025, Starmer was one of the first to step
30:16in.
30:16And what you saw from the Prime Minister was him getting on the phone behind the scenes and speaking to
30:20Donald Trump and speaking to President Zelensky
30:22and then bringing Zelensky to London and giving him that hug in Downing Street and getting the show back on
30:29the road.
30:33And Keir Starmer showed his willingness to stand up to Trump when the president seemed to be very seriously weighing
30:39up the idea of annexing Greenland.
30:42We were all clear that the future of Greenland is a matter for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.
30:48Keir is being, you know, clear about it, firm about it, saying, you know, Donald Trump, I don't agree with
30:53you on Greenland.
30:54You're not allowed to have Greenland.
30:55What we British do, and have always done in a way, is apply common sense, pragmatism, but we stick to
31:02our principles and our values.
31:03Welcome to Starmer.
31:05Oh, thank you so much.
31:06One of the things that has been said about Starmer is that he has been better on the world stage.
31:10And in foreign policy than domestically.
31:14I think that Keir Starmer is more at home in the hermetically sealed world of the G7, the UN, the
31:23diplomatic lounge,
31:26without grubby domestic politics intruding, where he can look at each problem issue by issue.
31:33Keir Starmer is not ideological.
31:36He's a barrister.
31:37He looks at each of these cases as an intellectual puzzle to be resolved and fixed.
31:43I think in an international world that's quite turbulent right now, that sort of steadfastness can actually be an asset.
32:01Had we not done that, Iran would have had a very powerful nuclear weapon within one month.
32:08But Keir Starmer's diplomatic skills were soon to be tested yet again when the US and Israel launched joint missile
32:16strikes on Iran.
32:18Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
32:29The PM's initial refusal to allow US forces to use British military bases saw him at odds with the American
32:37president.
32:38When the Iran situation came up and whether we're going to back Trump on the attacks,
32:43there were people in the cabinet who actually said, no, we can't do that.
32:47And therefore, Starmer didn't support us going in immediately with Trump.
32:51The United Kingdom played no role in these strikes.
32:55I think this is a rare example of Keir Starmer showing us who he really is or knowing who he
33:02really is.
33:03This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with.
33:08Starmer's approach, initially at least, put clear space between him and his political opponents.
33:14Frankly, what has happened over the course of the last few days is not enough and we look humiliated on
33:20the world stage.
33:21No one wants to see more escalation, but our enemies will look at Britain sitting on the fence and think
33:28that this is a weak country.
33:30She and the reform leader have been spooked because they realized they've jumped into supporting a war without thinking through
33:38the consequences.
33:40He basically said, what do you think we should have just followed Trump blindly into a war with no legal
33:47basis and with no clear plan?
33:49And then he's turned to the Greens and said, what do you think we should just not defend British citizens
33:55who are under fire in the Gulf?
33:57So on that, I think he feels like he has landed in the right place, legally, but also politically.
34:08When we're looking at the Iran crisis, do you think this could actually be the making of him?
34:13I think Keir Starmer is not just doing the right thing, but his approach is in line with where the
34:17public are.
34:18I don't think they want to see us sucked into a conflict that lacks a clear purpose or a clear
34:23end.
34:23Others can judge in the long run whether that delivers any wider benefits to Keir as an individual, but that
34:28won't be what motivates him.
34:30He won't be thinking about what this means for him. He'll be thinking about what this means for the country.
34:35Although the role of British bases has been expanded, Starmer still insists they're being used in self-defence.
34:41In a piece of smart politics, he's got the political benefit of publicly opposing the war, while still giving the
34:48Americans much of what they need.
34:50He clearly on some level was thinking, this is good for my survival, that he was more comfortable talking about
34:56Iran than he was about the fallout from the Gorton and Denton by-election,
35:00which you can understand because he does feel like foreign affairs plays to his strengths.
35:10Do you think he'll care that Trump said he was no Churchill?
35:13No, because Trump's no Franklin D. Roosevelt.
35:16I think the whole point in the Middle East is not about America, but who is in charge of America.
35:22And I think they're being led at the moment, quite frankly, by an ignorant bully.
35:27I will say the UK has been very, very uncooperative.
35:31They won't Starmer to respond to these stupid insults that you get from the stupid being a very Trumpian word.
35:37He can't, but he can ride those two horses in the interest of this country.
35:43And I think that's where his strength will come.
35:45That's the one time, probably, where foreign affairs will reflect in the ballot box.
35:53I'm not going to be wavering on this.
35:55I'm the British Prime Minister, and my job is to be absolutely focused on what's in the British national interest.
36:02What will happen with the Trump relationship? Well, who can possibly say?
36:05But it is true that Keir Starmer does often see more at home abroad.
36:09Why? Well, again, it is to do with the character and politics of this unusual prime minister.
36:15In foreign policy, you don't need an ideology.
36:18There is no electorate to convince.
36:20There is a series of crises and problems to be weathered and solved.
36:24It appeals to the sort of politician that he is, an international handyman with an international law degree.
36:31The problem is, is that foreign policy rarely wins votes.
36:34And when foreign and domestic collide, as happened in the Mandelson affair,
36:39the old problems for Keir Starmer arise anew.
36:44Despite being viewed as doing the right thing in not backing Trump over Iran,
36:48the long-term economic impact of the war is already being felt in people's pockets
36:53and could yet transform politics at home.
36:56I will keep on fighting for those people for as long as I've got breath in my body.
37:01This is the backdrop to looming crucial elections in May,
37:06where Keir Starmer may face the fight of his life to survive as Labour leader and prime minister.
37:27You see that man right there? You know who that is? The late great Winston Churchill.
37:32Keir Starmer has often been underestimated.
37:36At times this year, it looked like he wouldn't even make it this far.
37:40In this job, you don't get a second shot at making the right call on taking your country to war.
37:50As the Iran conflict enters its second month,
37:53Starmer's decision not to join the US-Israeli offensive seems, on the face of it,
37:58to have cemented his own position.
38:00I think we have been able to play a very positive role
38:03because the agenda is the right one and is really popular across the world.
38:12But there are many political landmines ahead for Keir Starmer,
38:16not least what he knew about Peter Mandelson
38:19before appointing him to the UK's top diplomatic post.
38:23With a very limited number of documents being released today,
38:26the weight goes on for the rest of Britain's Epstein files.
38:29We know that there's going to be this steady trickle of documents coming out,
38:33which will just be the backdrop to his premiership.
38:37Did you deceive the Prime Minister, Mr Mandelson?
38:43But by far his biggest political challenge will come in May,
38:47when voters go to the polls in local elections in England
38:50and parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales.
38:53I think that ability to consistently show some kind of improvement is what's needed now.
38:59But when it gets to May and you see another sort of dire set of local election results,
39:04that might be the point of no return.
39:07Labour is currently well down in the polls
39:10and is projected to lose over 1,500 local councillors.
39:14If he does last up until May 7th,
39:16your job in the run-up to May 7th is to make sure he isn't there for very much longer.
39:23I think he's feeling so much pressure from reform,
39:25but not just from reform, from the Greens as well.
39:29We're not being complacent. We're going to get out there.
39:31We're going to campaign for every single vote.
39:34If we have the devastating results that were being predicted,
39:40then I think decisions about who leads the party going forward
39:45has to be a discussion.
39:47You have all confidence in the Prime Minister ways.
39:49Labour MPs aren't just thinking about it
39:51in terms of the dissatisfaction with Keir Starmer.
39:54It's about who comes next and they all want to time it
39:57so that the person that they prefer is best placed to fight a contest.
40:02But Starmer's survival may be underpriced.
40:05Much of Labour fears who might replace him and the instability it might cause.
40:10I think that the country will be fed up.
40:12You know, we saw too much of that under the Tories,
40:16so we need to think about what the country needs going forward
40:19in terms of providing that level of stability.
40:23Do you think he should lead the Parsons the next election if he wants to?
40:27He's probably the only person.
40:29To be honest, I can't see West Streeting doing it,
40:32I can't see Angela Rayner doing it, I can't see Andy Burnham doing it,
40:35I can't see anybody in the Labour Party.
40:39The Health Secretary, Starmer's former deputy leader,
40:42and the Mayor of Greater Manchester are often cited as the three frontrunners.
40:47But these rivals have their own problems.
40:49The timing hasn't been right for West Streeting or Angela Rayner.
40:53It's obviously not right for Andy Burnham because he's not even in Parliament.
40:56And I think that that has kept Keir Starmer in place.
40:59In recent weeks, Angela Rayner has appeared to be getting closer to mounting a challenge.
41:05However, almost half the people in our survey believed
41:08anyone replacing Starmer as Labour leader would actually be the same or worse.
41:14So I think if you're West Streeting, if you're Angela Rayner,
41:17Andy Burnham outside Parliament for the time being,
41:19but if you're one of these contenders thinking that you'd get an easier ride for the public,
41:23I'm not sure that's the case.
41:25Any successor would inherit a government that has hemorrhaged support over the last 20 months.
41:31And after six prime ministers in the last decade,
41:34is there much public desire for a seventh?
41:37Nobody wants to be the person that goes over the top
41:41because of the instability that could be unleashed in terms of the markets,
41:47in terms of the public being very angry.
41:50Public impatience and frustration with our politicians
41:54has been growing over the last two decades.
41:58The heart of this issue is the stagnating or collapsing living standards.
42:04That has led to voters hitting the red button for change repeatedly.
42:10They did that when they voted for Brexit.
42:14They did it when they voted for Boris Johnson
42:18and that didn't work either, and they did it when they voted Labour.
42:25Keir Starmer or any government that seems unable to improve people's living standards in any way,
42:32it is no surprise that they're unpopular.
42:34And you can understand recent British political history of people voting for economic change
42:40again and again and again, and it never seeming to materialise.
42:45So this is a far bigger question than just about Keir Starmer or his government.
42:49People, I think, in Britain now are starting to doubt whether any government,
42:53whether the British state itself, the democratic system itself,
42:56can deliver material improvement to their lives.
43:01It definitely feels like there's something very unstable in our politics.
43:07Some of it comes from forces outside of Westminster.
43:10It's like a 24-hour news cycle and social media, voter volatility.
43:16You think that the media and perhaps politicians, MPs as well,
43:20were addicted to the drama and that feeds through.
43:23I think so much of the focus and what happens through the media
43:25is around some of the kind of who's up or who's down political chatter.
43:30That's always been there, but it's such a big feature of so much of the coverage
43:34at a time when we're facing some huge global issues,
43:38some big issues close to home as well.
43:40The level of discontent that people have with the establishment
43:44has only become more entrenched.
43:46Our streets! Our streets!
43:49Against that background, what you need is a clearer vision,
43:52greater radicalism in order to be able to restore faith in democratic politics.
43:57And in that sense, Starmer, it's his tragedy,
44:00is uniquely ill-suited to this moment.
44:06More than half of the people we surveyed
44:08believe the fault for Britain's political instability
44:11lies squarely with the men and women we elect to represent us.
44:15Trust in politicians is an all-time low.
44:18The more the public get to know politicians,
44:20the more they often don't like them.
44:22And our polls suggest that Starmer has an uphill task
44:25to change people's minds.
44:27The public have already made up their minds
44:29about Keir Starmer and the Labour government.
44:31Now, it might be that substantial improvements
44:34to living standards do change their minds,
44:36but at the moment we can see that nearly six in ten of the public
44:39think that Labour won't be able to turn things around.
44:42Starmer now finds himself where no Prime Minister would want to be
44:46just 20 months into their term in office.
44:49He must now not only convince the public, but his own party as well.
44:54I don't think we can go on the way we are,
44:58with a party where debate is closed down in such a way
45:02that lessons aren't being learnt.
45:05I think people are just saying, just be Labour, will you?
45:07You stand up for people.
45:09You are a progressive party.
45:10You do want to change society.
45:12It's more than time for Keir Starmer to go.
45:14He's actually lost the trust of the country.
45:16How do you think Keir Starmer will be remembered by history?
45:19I think he'll be remembered as a figure who squandered
45:24the amazing inheritance of a huge parliamentary majority
45:30and the goodwill, certainly, of probably a majority of the country
45:34because he was a man without a plan.
45:37Do you think he'll be Prime Minister
45:39leading the Labour Party into the next general election?
45:41I don't.
45:41Do you think that he will lead Labour into the next election?
45:45And do you think he should?
45:46Yes, I do. And yes, I think he should.
45:47I think if he wants to, he will.
45:50I'm not sure if Keir wants to be a two-term Prime Minister.
45:54Keir Starmer's tragedy might be that he's a man of order
45:57with disorder all around him.
46:00A disorder he seems unable to fix.
46:02Like so many recent Prime Ministers,
46:05he is haunted by changes in technology, social media, geopolitics,
46:09a public who see a system which no longer works for them,
46:13a system which feels ungovernable and chaotic.
46:16He promised that he would end that chaos,
46:20something that so far he has not done.
46:22His challenges have been immense,
46:24which is precisely why you need leaders, politicians,
46:27Prime Ministers who can rise to match them.
46:30For Keir Starmer, perhaps for the system as we've known it,
46:34it's now or never.
47:02But what could be these communities that really need
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