Starmer to warn of communities’ decline in bid to move on from Mandelson scandal

Sir Keir Starmer will warn that communities’ “devastating decline” could imperil national security, as he seeks to move on from the growing anger over the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal.

The Prime Minister will say “Britain has been undermined by political neglect” on Thursday as £800 million in new funding to revamp decrepit high streets is announced.

It comes in a torrid week for Sir Keir in which fresh revelations about Lord Mandelson’s dealings with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein have led to renewed scrutiny of the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint him the UK ambassador to the US.

The Prime Minister has admitted he knew about the disgraced Labour veteran’s post-conviction friendship with Epstein when he picked him for the job, but claimed he “lied repeatedly” about the extent of the relationship.

Sir Keir will use his speech in East Sussex to try to focus attention on the “grievance” he will accuse rival political parties of peddling, before a crunch by-election in Manchester and May’s local and devolved parliamentary elections.

Speculation has persisted about the prospect of Sir Keir facing a leadership challenge if Labour performs badly.

He has previously framed the February 26 contest in Gorton and Denton, which is being held after former MP Andrew Gwynne stood down for health reasons, as a battle between Labour and Reform UK.

Sir Keir is expected to say: “Britain has been undermined by political neglect, the scorched earth of Tory austerity. In towns across Britain, the same story, high streets, youth clubs – the places that shape a life – that bring different people together, that create the bonds of memory and pride – they were just abandoned.

“Because politics in this dangerous era is no longer about left and right, but a contest between renewal and grievance. Between those who accept the idea that society is a zero-sum competition and those who believe we can unite for the higher purpose.”

He will seek to stress his Government’s work in tackling the cost of living, arguing that it is vital for the nation’s security.

“A strong society is imperative not just on its own terms, but also for national security.

“To put it more bluntly – any country that cannot keep its high streets alive, its bills down and its people feeling respected, will struggle to meet the test of our times.”

He will point to the Government’s £5 billion Pride in Place programme, in which communities are provided with funding to regenerate public spaces, while saying “we’ve got to reverse the devastating decline” by giving more power to communities.

The £800 million in extra Government cash will support 40 new communities with £20 million each, according to Downing Street.

The Labour leader will argue that the UK is stronger as a “tolerant” country “in a world that increasingly preys on weakness”.

It comes after US President Donald Trump’s recent foreign policy moves – including his ambitions to take control of Greenland and attacks on traditional allies – sent shockwaves through western nations.

The controversy surrounding Lord Mandelson – who has quit the House of Lords, resigned from the Labour Party, been removed from the Privy Council and faces a criminal investigation following new revelations from the so-called Epstein files – has led to intensifying questions about Sir Keir’s political future.

Labour’s Mainstream group called for a “clean break” after the “betrayal” of the peer’s appointment to “one of the most powerful diplomatic posts on the planet” despite his friendship with Epstein being public knowledge.

The centre-left grouping, which is backed by Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham – long seen as a potential leadership rival to Sir Keir – said its members did not want to watch the party “succumb to the same old sickness” of “elite privilege, spin and toxic factionalism”.

The cross-party Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion said it hoped the Prime Minister’s intervention would be followed by policies, resources and leadership to tackle the crisis in community and cohesion.

The commission’s co-chairman, Tory former minister Sir Sajid Javid, said: “We hope that the PM’s words today are just the start of a whole-of-government approach to get to grips with the twin crises of disconnection and division.”