Britain is 'fed up with a scoundrel in No 10', Lord Mandelson warns

29 June 2022, 19:05

Lord Mandelson has said the country is "in the mood for a bit of seriousness" in Labour because Britons are "fed up with having a scoundrel in Number 10."

The former Labour MP told Tonight with Andrew Marr that party leader Keir Starmer should not worry about being branded serious because "he's a solid guy, who thinks deeply about policies and has a very clear sense of direction in which he wants to take the country."

He warned people are fed up with Tory party politics because they "want someone who tells the truth, who they can trust."

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"Who when he says he's going to do X, does X, rather than find some personal expedient reason by the end of the day or the end of the week to do the complete opposite.

"People are fed up with that sort of politics, they want a change, and Keir is offering it."

Asked if he would welcome a snap election, Lord Mandelson said: "Bring it on... the country's in the mood for change."

Lord Mandelson brands PM a 'scoundrel'

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Lord Mandelson added that Starmer has led Labour to "the Blair part of the process" after building up the party from the "hole we were thrown into by Jeremy Corbyn."

He described Labour as at "ground level" and praised Starmer for engaging "in a very very big project to transform" the party.

"We've got solid foundations to build a policy programme. A vision for the country. In my view that's what Keir Starmer and his colleagues are now setting about doing and they've got time between now and the next general election to do it," he added.

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"In my view we've got quite a time between now and the next general election because Tory turkeys are not going to vote for an early Christmas, given the state of their ratings."

He warned Labour needs "more than a modest turn of the policy dial".

"We really have to think about some very major, quite radical transformative policies for this country but which are also capable of not just appealing to the centre-left, where Labour is, but appealing to the centre ground as well."

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