Keir Starmer will be Prime Minister 'through this Parliament and beyond', No10 insists

Keir Starmer will stay on as Prime Minister “throughout this Parliament and beyond”, Downing Street has said. Mr Starmer has faced questions about his leadership as the furious backlash over Peter Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador spirals. But No10 insisted he was focused on the day job and had no plans to quit. Asked if he was preparing to stand down, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “He’s very focused on the job. I refer you back to his previous language that he will continue to lead the Government throughout this Parliament and beyond. "He’s got a huge amount of work to do. We’re in the middle of a global conflict, the like of which we’ve not seen for years.” It comes as Downing Street was plunged into fresh crisis over Lord Mandelson's appointment after it emerged security officials had suggesting blocking his security clearance. The PM sacked Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins for failing to tell him about the advice, which was overruled by officials to rush the peer to Washington ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration. Sir Olly hit back this week, accusing No10 of piling pressure on his department to approve the appointment and taking a "dismissive" approach to Lord Mandelson's vetting. But Cabinet Office boss Cat Little told MPs the Foreign Office had refused provide access to the vetting documents, and backed up the PM's claims that due process was followed. The crisis continues to engulf Government's work just a fortnight before crucial elections in England, Scotland and Wales. And the nightmare is set to continue next week as the PM's ex-chief-of-staff Morgan McSweeney and Sir Olly's predecessor at the Foreign Office, Sir Philip Barton, due to give evidence to MPs. On Thursday, the PM accused political rivals of trying to use the Mandelson saga to undermine the Government. Asked if he had considered resigning, Mr Starmer told broadcasters: "I think it's very important to see what's going on here. Last week, my political opponents were saying that there's no way a civil servant wouldn't have told me about the outcome of a developed vetting security exercise. Turns out my political opponents were completely wrong about that. "Then they said that I was dishonest. It turns out they were completely wrong about that. They are now putting any allegation they can and I will tell you for why - they are opposed politically to what this Government is trying to achieve." He brushed off speculation about divisions in his Cabinet, after several top ministers publicly distanced themselves from his decision to sack Foreign Office boss Sir Olly Robbins over the row on Lord Mandelson's vetting. The PM said: "The Cabinet is working really hard on a huge amount of issues and what we're delivering at the moment. We're preparing for the King's Speech and all the further measures that we're going to need to take the country forward."