Pressure is mounting on Sir Keir Starmer amid claims officials were bullied into approving Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador.
Sir Olly Robbins, who was last week sacked as permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, made an explosive appearance before MPs yesterday in which he accused Downing Street of taking a "dismissive approach" to security checks on Mandelson and applying "constant pressure" on officials.
The Times reports Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said he had been concerned that Mandelson’s appointment would “blow up” and that then Foreign Secretary David Lammy had concerns about Starmer’s decision too.
Robbins also told MPs that No.10 had tried to find an ambassador role for Starmer's director of communications without informing Lammy.
The accusations have piled more pressure on Starmer, with cabinet ministers distancing themselves from the beleaguered leader.
One told The Times the PM had "picked the wrong fight" by sacking Robbins and that there was "no way it was going to end well".
They went on: “I think Labour MPs are more despondent than anything. They feel like they’re in purgatory. It’s terminal but nobody wants it now.”