The Papers: ‘Starmer in peril’ and ‘Gunners hero dead’
Several front pages lead with the latest calls for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign after the Guardian reported that former US ambassador Lord Mandelson had failed his security clearance checks before he formally took up the Washington role in February 2025. “Starmer in peril” and “is accused of misleading Parliament” over Lord Mandelson’s vetting, the i Paper says.
The Guardian leads with its own investigation that found Lord Mandelson had failed a “highly confidential background check” before the “Foreign Office overruled decision to ensure ambassador post”. In response, “Opposition calls for Starmer to quit ‘if he misled parliament'”.
“Starmer faces calls to quit” is the Independent’s take as he faces accusations that he “misled MPs” over Lord Mandelson’s appointment. Meanwhile, the paper embeds a photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their Australia trip under the headline “Meghan: I was most trolled person in the entire world”, telling mental health workers in Melbourne “she had been bullied online ‘every day for 10 years'”.
Downing Street denies the PM or government ministers were aware of the failed security checks “putting the blame on Foreign Office officials”, the Financial Times writes. In another headline, it says “Israel-Lebanon Truce agreed, Trump says”.
“Misleading MPs is a breach” of the ministerial code, the Daily Telegraph reports, saying it is “usually a resigning offence”. While there is no confirmation for why the Labour peer failed his initial security clearance, the paper “understands that Lord Mandelson’s links to China and Russia may have been an issue”. The BBC cannot confirm these claims.
The Tories say “PM must resign for misleading MPs”, the Times writes, with a government source telling the paper Sir Keir was “furious” because he was “repeatedly assured by the Foreign Office that Mandelson had been cleared”. The front page also features an image of Pope Leo XIV holding a dove in Cameroon, shortly after he said the world is being “ravaged by tyrants”.
The Daily Mail’s splash includes calls from some backbench Labour MPs for Sir Keir to step down, after saying “his position was untenable”.
“Starmer must resign after blatant lies to MPs” the Daily Express says, adding that Sir Keir told MPs that “full due process” had been followed in the appointment.
“Gunners hero dead” is the Daily Star’s top story. Ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger, 48, was “killed when his car was hit by a train”.
“Putin’s Brit hit list revealed” is the Daily Mirror’s headline, next to a mid-shot of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The paper’s exclusive story unveils “four UK locations [Putin] could target for backing Ukraine’s war effort”, citing recent remarks made by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The Sun splashes its “world exclusive” that Sarah Ferguson “is hiding out in Austria amid calls for her to come clean about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein”. The paper appears to show her holding a grocery bag outside a luxury Alpine Ski resort, the first time the former duchess has been seen in public since she went into hiding “for 213 days”, the paper writes.
And finally, Victoria Beckham’s latest comments about her estranged son Brooklyn are covered on the Metro’s front page. “We only ever tried to protect our children,” the paper quotes the Spice Girl turned fashion boss as saying.
Sir Keir Starmer and Lord Mandelson appear on most of the front pages. However they were published before it emerged that Sir Olly Robbins was leaving his job.
The Daily Telegraph reports that staff at Number 10 believe they were lied to by the Foreign Office, about the peer failing his enhanced security vetting. According to the i Paper, the prime minister only found out as officials were compiling documents to release to Parliament. Someone close to Sir Keir Starmer tells the Financial Times it’s “inconceivable” he would have gone ahead with the appointment, if had he known.
The Daily Express leads on the calls by opposition parties for the prime minister to quit, over claims he misled Parliament when he said all due process had been followed. The Guardian, whose reporting broke this story, says Sir Keir will also be pressed about misleading the public. The paper is among several to highlight that he told journalists in February that the security vetting process had cleared Lord Mandelson for the role – a statement that contradicts the application’s outcome, the Guardian says.
The Daily Mail says the push-back by Downing Street amounts to a “last-ditch” effort to keep Sir Keir in his job. On the topic of a leadership challenge, a source involved in previous moves against the prime minister tells the Times: “It’s on.” The leader column in the Daily Telegraph says questions around Sir Keir’s future had looked to have been postponed until after the May elections, but the paper says he may have that luxury no longer.
The Daily Mirror leads instead on Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian leader has drawn up a list of four locations in the UK that he could target for backing Ukraine’s war effort. Production sites in 11 other European countries are mentioned on a statement from the Russian ministry of defence. The Mirror’s main editorial says this is intimidation “pure and simple” and the UK should “not flinch now”.