LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a rallying cry to his staff on Monday, signalling he would not heed calls to step down, after a second aide resigned over the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States.

But a demand from Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar for him to quit, and the departure of a second senior aide in as many days ,did little to stop the questions over his judgement and ability to govern.

Earlier on Monday, the British leader sought to raise spirits and encourage unity when he addressed staff at his Downing Street office, and he later received messages of support from his top ministers and some potential leadership rivals.

Tim Allan, 10 Downing Street’s communications chief, said he was resigning to make way for a new team to support the PM, a day after Starmer’s closest aide Morgan McSweeney stepped down over Mandelson’s ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Police probe whether Andrew passed secret info to Epstein; Kensington Palace says ‘deeply concerned’ by revelations

But Sarwar, speaking in Scotland where Labour has seen its support slump since the 2024 election, said it was with a heavy heart that he had to call for a change of leader in London.

“The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change,” he told a press conference.

In response, a Downing Street spokesperson said Starmer had “a clear five-year mandate from the British people to deliver change, and that is what he will do”.

Did Andrew share secrets?

Amid the troubles facing the Labour government, Thames Valley Police are said to be assessing a complaint by the anti-monarchy group Republic, over the alleged sharing of confidential material by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with Jeffrey Epstein, BBC News reported.

According to emails recently released by the US government, a sender thought to be the former prince passed on reports of visits to Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam and confidential details of investment opportunities.

Under official guidance, trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive, commercial, or political information about their official visits.

According to material seen by the BBC, the emails indicate that on 7 October 2010, Andrew sent Epstein details of his official upcoming trips as trade envoy to Singapore, Vietnam, Shenzhen in China and Hong Kong, where he was accompanied by business associates of Epstein.

After the trip, on 30 November, he appears to have forwarded official reports of those visits sent by his then-special assistant, Amit Patel, to Epstein, five minutes after receiving them.

William in S. Arabia

Meanwhile, Prince William began his first official visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday, aimed at deepening economic cooperation but already overshadowed by his disgraced uncle Andrew’s links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Ahead of his arrival in Riyadh, Kensington Palace broke years of silence over Andrew’s links to Epstein by saying William and his wife Catherine were “deeply concerned by the continuing revelations”.

The short statement, which did not directly reference the ex-prince, came as the monarchy faces renewed pressure over allegations stemming from the tarnished royal’s ties to Epstein.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026