The SNP's Westminster leader has called on the prime minister to "do the decent thing and resign".

It follows two of Sir Keir Starmer's top colleagues quitting Number 10 in less than 24 hours. 

Responding to this, Stephen Flynn has said in a statement: "The Labour government is in chaos and completely distracted from the issues that matter – like helping families with the cost of living, which has soared under Keir Starmer."

He added that Labour has "lurched from one crisis to another and has failed to deliver the change voters were promised".

He continued: "It's not in Scotland's interests – or anyone's interests – for this chaos to continue endlessly. 

"It's clear voters have lost confidence in Keir Starmer and, with his own MPs calling for him to go, he has become a lame duck leader who lacks the authority needed to deliver change. 

"This never-ending chaos can't go on. Keir Starmer should do the decent thing and resign."

Earlier today, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch warned the resignation of Tim Allan this morning shows Starmer "is in office, not in power" and has "lost control of his government".

Meanwhile, her colleague, Matt Vickers, suggested it shows "the rats are abandoning the sinking ship that is Keir Starmer's premiership".

But moments ago, the prime minister's spokesperson insisted Starmer will not resign today - and said he both has the confidence of his cabinet and is "upbeat and confident".

Downing Street has said Sir Keir Starmer is "upbeat and confident" - after being asked if he will resign today. 

It follows the resignations of the PM's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney yesterday, and this morning, his fourth director of communications in government, Tim Allan.

Responding to that question from journalists, the prime minister's official spokesperson replied: "No."

"The prime minister is concentrating on the job in hand," they said. 

"He is getting on with the job of delivering change across the country."

They later said that Starmer is "upbeat and confident".

He "remains determined to tackle the job in hand", the spokesperson added.

Asked if Starmer is confident he holds the unanimous support of the cabinet, they replied: "Yes."

They also refused to say if Allan was sacked and what he meant in his resignation statement that he quit to "allow a new Number 10 team to be built".

Asked if this means there may be more resignations as part of this 'new team', the spokesperson pointed to the appointment of Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson as acting chiefs of staff.

After saying Starmer would not resign, the spokesperson was asked how long the PM can go on for. 

They replied that he is focussed on getting young people into work, as today marks the start of National Apprenticeship Week. 

They also confirmed that Starmer's remarks to staff at Number 10 - talking about going "forward from here" and that "we go with confidence as we continue changing the country" - came before Allan announced his resignation.

Asked if Allan listened to this and then decided to quit Number 10, the spokesperson merely insisted that he had not announced his resignation before Starmer's address.

They also rejected suggestions from journalists that Downing Street is "in chaos" due to the volume of staff who have departed since July 2024.

Allan was the PM's fourth director of communications, while McSweeney was his second chief of staff.

They responded that ministers are "out and about" today, championing economic growth and opportunity.

The Conservatives have called on Labour MPs to "stop moaning and put [Sir Keir Starmer] out of his misery".

It follows the resignations of the PM's chief of staff yesterday and his director of communications today. 

A short while ago, Kemi Badenoch said it shows that Starmer has "lost control".

Now, the party has formally responded. 

Matt Vickers, the deputy Tory chairman, said: "The rats are abandoning the sinking ship that is Keir Starmer's premiership.

"Labour MPs should stop moaning and put him out of his misery. The country deserves so much better than this weak, chaotic government.

"The public is crying out for leadership with a backbone, a strong team and the clear plans to get Britain working again. That is Kemi Badenoch's new Conservative Party."

Tim Allan has made it clear he has officially left Downing Street.

To do this, he's used the medium favoured by Westminster journalists. 

The former executive director of communications has changed his WhatsApp profile photo to an image of a club and a ball, with the cheery slogan: "Gone Golfing".

Allan is the second major official to quit Number 10, after Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney yesterday.

While Allan's off for some golf, he has left the prime minister in the rough - as he faces growing threats to his premiership from his own MPs.

Sir Keir Starmer has spoken out for the first time since the resignation of his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney. 

In the last hour, his executive director of communications, Tim Allan, has also resigned.

Speaking to staff in Number 10, the PM said: "I've known Morgan for eight years as a colleague and as a friend. 

"We have run up and down every political football pitch that is across the country. We've been in every battle that we needed to be in together. Fighting that battle. 

"We changed the Labour Party together. We won a general election together. And none of that would have been possible without Morgan McSweeney. 

"His dedication, his commitment and his loyalty to our party and our country was second to none. And I want to thank him for his service."

Watch: McSweeney's resignation statement analysed

Addressing the Peter Mandelson allegations directly, he added: "The thing that makes me most angry is the undermining of the belief that politics can be a force for good and can change lives. 

"I have been absolutely clear that I regret the decision that I made to appoint Peter Mandelson. And I've apologised to the victims which is the right thing to do."

Starmer also turned the agenda of his government.

He said: "In just a few months, we start the work of lifting half a million children out of poverty. A massive thing to do in this country because that means that lives will be changed. 

"For decades to come, children who otherwise wouldn't have fair chance and fair opportunity. Poverty holds children back like nothing else on earth. And so getting rid of child poverty opens up opportunities for so many."

He concluded: "We must prove that politics can be a force for good. 

"I believe it can. I believe it is. We go forward from here. We go with confidence as we continue changing the country."

The leader of the Conservatives has said the resignation of Tim Allan is "yet another sign that Keir Starmer has lost control of his government".

Kemi Badenoch said: "He is in office, but not in power. He is completely at the mercy of Labour MPs, who, let's be frank, have not been voting his way since the U-turn on the two-child benefit cap. 

"He has no control. 

"This communications director is a new communications director - he only got in in September. This is all Labor psychodrama. He needs to get a grip. 

"The country is not being governed. They have no time at all to look at the problems that are out there. They're only focused on their internal problems. And my job is to hold them to account."

She added that unemployment is rising, people are struggling and that Starmer is "not doing anything at all".

The Tory leader continued: "He went to China just last week. He was supposed to do something to help Jimmy Lai. Jimmy Lai has now been sentenced to an extra 20 years. That is an unbelievable failure of diplomacy on the part of the prime minister. 

"He cannot get anything done. And the communications director leaving is just yet another sign that everything is falling apart. It is time for Labour to get a grip."

Tim Allan, the executive director of communications - is out after six months. He may not be a household name - few are in Downing Street, not least because of the rate of turnover behind Number 10 black door. 

But he is the second incredibly senior figure to go in less than 24 hours - and his departure was a complete shock - so his exit raises questions about the ability of Keir Starmer to hang on to people working for him.  

Although Allan got mixed reviews from Labour colleagues - one said of his departure "finally some good news", another said "phew-useless" and a third "will anyone notice" - this could nevertheless prove a tipping point. 

With Allan and Morgan McSweeney gone, there are few people injecting political savvy into the operation and it's not clear where he can find people to step into the breach. 

Watch Sam's analysis below

The rapid turnover of people in the director of communications role has been a sign of instability of our politics in recent years, and Starmer has ploughed through so many. 

Ben Nunn, Matthew Doyle, James Lyons, Steph Driver and now Tim Allan were all in, and then out of this inner circle as communications chief - each departing in the hope of something better from a successor. But nothing better has come along.

This departure puts the pressure on Starmer’s appearance before the Parliamentary Labour Party like never before. They will be sizing him up. He will be testing his support.

The next 36 hours are critical. 

Tim Allan has quit as Sir Keir Starmer's fourth director of communications, having been brought in to Downing Street just five months ago to steady the ship.

He is a veteran of the New Labour years, starting his political career as a researcher for Tony Blair in 1992, rising to deputy press secretary when Blair was elected Labour leader in 1994.

After Labour won the 1997 general election, Allan followed Blair to Downing Street as his deputy director of communications under Alistair Campbell.

But he quickly moved to BSkyB to become its PR chief, and then set up public relations firm Portland in 2001, which grew to become of the country's leading consultancies.

He sold his majority stake in the company in 2012, but has continued as an investor in public affairs and media companies.

Allan joined the Starmer operation in September last year, with the PM no doubt hoping that his experience with New Labour and his expertise in communications would help steady the faltering No10 operation.

However, he has resigned after just five months in post "to allow a new Number 10 team to be built".

 Sir Keir Starmer's executive director of communications, Tim Allan, has resigned.

He said: "I have decided to stand down to allow a new Number 10 team to be built. 

"I wish the PM and his team every success."

Allan only took up the role in September last year and has served for around five months.

It follows the resignation of Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney yesterday.

Allan previously worked for Tony Blair, between 1992 and 1998.

The departure is a further blow for Starmer, who is already fighting for his premiership due to the growing furore over Peter Mandelson.

Allan is also the fourth director of communications to resign from Starmer's Downing Street.

Previous people in the role include:

• Matthew Doyle - quit March 2025
• James Lyons - quit September 2025
• Steph Driver - quit later in September after Allan became her boss

By comparison, Rishi Sunak had two communications directors, while Boris Johnson also had four.

By Alix Culbertson, political reporter

In the midst of Number 10 turmoil and British citizen Jimmy Lai being sentenced to 20 years in jail in Hong Kong, the government has announced it is extending eligibility for its humanitarian visa scheme for Hong Kongers.

Adult children of British National (Overseas) passport holders who were under 18 years old when the UK handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 will now be able to apply for the route independently of their parents.

Their partners and children will also be able to move to the UK, with the Home Office estimating 26,000 arrivals over the next five years.

The route was first opened in 2020 after Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong, with nearly 170,000 Hong Kongers having moved to the UK since then.

But the 1997 cut-off meant some people's children were eligible, yet their siblings were not. 

MPs have been campaigning for the change for at least two years, so the timing of today's announcement - hours after pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai was sentenced - has prompted cynical accusations.

Timing is 'cynical indeed'

Mark Sabah, UK director of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, told Paste BN: "No Hong Konger would accept the expansion of the BNO scheme over the freedom of Jimmy Lai and hundreds of other political prisoners.

"The timing of the announcement is cynical indeed. Coming after the trip to Beijing and on the day of Jimmy Lai's sentencing.

"It's almost as if the government thinks this announcement will improve their image regarding HK and China after the awful trip to China, which gained the UK nothing. But China still gets a mega embassy.

"Jimmy Lai is now officially a hero and martyr to many Hong Kongers as a result of this 20-year sentence - even to those who weren't fans of his.

"This announcement just exposes greater fear about how the UK is behaving towards Hong Kongers."

'We've campaigned for two years'

Hong Kong Watch, which campaigns for Hong Kongers and whose patron is the last governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten, said it was "sad" it has taken Lai's sentencing for the change.

"We have been raising this issue with the Home Office for over two years, and we are pleased that BNO families split by the eligibility gap will finally be able to reunite in the UK, " said Thomas Benson, senior policy and research adviser.

"It is sad, of course, that it has taken the sentencing of Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison for this move to be made, and he remains in our thoughts. 

"Nevertheless, for thousands of children of BNOs who have been separated from their families, unable to leave Hong Kong, this is heartwarming news, and we are pleased to see this gap in the BNO policy finally closed."