Booting out Sir Keir Starmer over the Mandelson scandal should not happen because it could destabilise the economy, Rachel Reeves has said. Speaking at an event in central London the Chancellor said that there was no contest taking place and defended the Prime Minister, who is currently facing calls to resign.

This week the Mandelson scandal erupted again after Sir Keir fired the senior civil servant, Sir Olly Robbins, blaming him for not telling No10 that the disgraced peer had failed his security vetting. Lord Mandelson was appointed as Ambassador to the United States of America before being turfed out of the position once further information of his relationship with the convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, came to light.

Sir Keir has denied allegations that he misled parliament, levied at him by the leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch. She made the accusations after Sir Keir repeatedly stated that "due process" had been followed consistently. It would then be revealed that Lord Mandelson had failed his security vetting - something Sir Keir claims he was not told.

But the Prime Minister should not resign, the Chancellor has claimed. Speaking this evening she said: "Well, there is no Labour leadership contest, and I do not want to go down the route the Conservatives went down, of three prime ministers in five years and five chancellors I think during that timeline."

Boris Johnson resigned as Prime Minister, following repeated demands by Sir Keir Starmer who was then leader of the opposition - after allegations he had misled parliament over parties which had taken place in No10 during the Covid pandemic. Ms Reeves added: "Because that is one of the things that contributed to the instability and the lack of investment in the last Parliament, and that is exactly what we want to turn around."

She went on to say: "We promised stability, we said that economic growth being built on a platform on stability, investment and reform. But stability is the foundation of everything else, and that requires stable politics and stable economic policy as well."

Sir Olly Robbins, the former boss of the foreign office who was sacked by Sir Keir after the revelation that Lord Mandelson had failed his vetting, told MP's today that there had been "dismissive attitude" over the vetting of the peer, and that No 10 had placed enormous pressure on the FCDO to get him in post regardless.

The former Whitehall Mandarin said: "There was a very strong expectation [...] coming from Number 10 that he needed to be in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible."

Earlier, it was revealed that the next wave of documents due to be revealed in the release of the so-called Mandelson files would not come until after the local elections, sparking fury from MPs.

Responding, a government spokesperson said: "We are grateful to the ISC for their time and consideration of the large number of documents they're reviewing as part of the Humble Address process. Further documents have been gathered and we are working at pace to ensure the ISC has all relevant documentation as soon as possible."