An American pollster has eviscerated Keir Starmer over his “downright atrocious” popularity ratings with British voters.

CNN’s Harry Enten said the prime minister was even more unpopular than George W Bush or Richard Nixon ever were in the United States.

His comments came as Starmer fights for his political life over the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Enten said: “If you think things are bad here in the United States, let’s just go over the pond to the UK, because things are just downright atrocious over there for Keir Starmer.

“Just take a look here – Britons satisfied with Keir Starmer. Overall, 18%. You can’t even drink or smoke any more when you’re 18%. If you’re below that line, that’s not good.

“How about his own party, the voters who voted him in back in 2024. Less than 50% of Labour Party voters back in 2024 actually are satisfied with the job Keir Starmer is doing.

“When less than 50% of your own party voters are satisfied with what is shaking, you know you’re in bad, bad shape.”

Enten said Starmer was even more unpopular that Bush, who had the lowest ever popularity ratings for a US president at 20% when he left office in 2008.

He said: “Well I’ve got news for you; 20% is low, but it’s higher than 18%. Keir Starmer is less popular right now than the least popular American president ever.

“And Richard Nixon of course was coming in at about 24% just before he resigned office. So Keir Starmer is less popular than Richard Nixon was when he was forced out by Watergate.

“Keir Starmer – a very unpopular man. A lot of people want to put a lot of things in their tea when they look at Keir Starmer over in the UK.”

The pollster went on to point out that every other British prime minister who was as unpopular as Starmer either lost the next election or resigned from office.

“He’ll try and climb out of that hole, climb that ladder, but that ladder is going nowhere – he is on a highway to political hell,” Enten said.

He added: “The bottom line is this. Keir Starmer in massive political problems right now. Chances are, based upon history, he will either be forced out by the end of August or the voters will force him out at the end of general election.”

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You know your body better than anyone – but what happens when no one listens? Welcome to Ms Diagnosed: a HuffPost UK series uncovering the reality of medical gaslighting. With new stats showing that 8 in 10 of women have felt unheard by medical professionals, we’re sharing the stories of seven whose lives were nearly lost to the gap between their symptoms and a system that refused to listen. As the UK introduces Jess’s Rule – a new mandate for GPs to ‘rethink’ after a third visit – we’re exploring why the medical system is still failing women and how we can start to fix it.

I was driving home from Nottingham Trent University to Leicester, where my family lived, when I suddenly experienced double vision.

I was on a high-speed road, and I was terrified. I knew I couldn’t drive like this. Somehow, I managed to pull over and I called my dad, asking him to come and get me.

That was one of the scariest things that had ever happened to me; I still shiver to think what could have happened. And the worst part is, there’s a chance it could have been avoided. I later learned that I had Multiple Sclerosis (MS) – but when I’d gone to my GP with another major MS symptom around nine months’ previously, she’d told me there was nothing wrong.

I first started experiencing MS symptoms around my early twenties; but I had no idea, then, what they meant. I remember my brother once commenting that I was veering to the side, even though I thought I was walking straight – but it’s only in hindsight I realise this was likely down to MS.

The first symptom that actually alarmed me happened in 2008, when I was 22. I was in my teacher training year at university, and one night I woke up in the early hours, on the floor by the bathroom in my student accommodation.

I had absolutely no idea what had happened. I’d gone to bed at around 9:00pm that night, because I was scheduled to teach the next day. I’d clearly passed out; but I didn’t know how or why. I had bruises on my knee, presumably from where I’d fallen – and I was scared. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before.

The next day, I went back to Leicester and my mum and I went straight to my GP. I was a confident 22-year-old; the only reason I took my mum with me was because I was worried I’d pass out again. But the GP acted as though I was a child.

After I’d explained what had happened the night before – and how out of character passing out like that was for me – the GP looked over my head at my mum, who was standing behind me. “There’s nothing to worry about here,” she said. “We’re not concerned.”

Then, she uttered the words I still can’t believe I heard. “You know, at university, the students drink a lot.”

“I can absolutely guarantee that’s not what happened here,” I said, perplexed.

“No,” said my mum, just as appalled. “She’s training to be a teacher. She was going to teach at 8:30am the next morning. She wouldn’t have been drinking alcohol.”

But the GP didn’t take it any further. She asked some very generic questions, but she didn’t take any blood tests or do any real follow-up. She just said, “There’s nothing wrong.”

As I left the GP’s office, I felt utterly dismissed, as well as upset. I knew myself, and I knew how seriously I was taking my teacher training year. I’d made a point of going to the GP, because I knew, deep down, something wasn’t right; but she’d played on every stereotype she knew and had passed up an opportunity to take me seriously.

But I couldn’t stay angry at her. “At the end of the day, I suppose I’m grateful she doesn’t think there’s anything wrong,” I eventually thought – and I got on with my life. That is, until I experienced double vision on a high-speed road nine months later.

After that driving incident, I knew there was something serious going on. I went to my optician, assuming it was an issue with my eyes. They ran tests, but couldn’t find any issues. Unlike the GP, though, they knew they couldn’t just leave things unanswered; so they sent me to an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist.

At this point, life became a conveyor belt of referrals. I had an MRI, sight tests, colour vision tests – and I never, at any point, thought it could be MS. I thought I had a condition that would be treated, and that would then go away.

But I had other tests, too, focusing on strength and balance. Now, I realise those tests fit with suspicion of MS; but nobody mentioned this at the time, and I certainly had no idea.

I was eventually diagnosed in 2009, age 23. The neurologist spun his computer screen around, and all of a sudden he was talking me through a brain scan. He told me it was MS; but I had no idea what MS was. He was pointing at lesions, but the language and terminology he was using was so technical; I couldn’t follow anything.

I did hear the word ‘chronic’, though, and I knew what this meant. That I’d be on treatment ‘for life’; that I’d have this condition ‘for life’. That the symptoms I’d experienced so far – the passing out, the double vision – could be the tip of the iceberg.

“Will I still be able to teach?” I eventually asked him. I didn’t ask the second part of my question: ”…Or are you effectively telling me my life’s over?”.

He said I could continue teaching so long as adjustments were made; and I’m still teaching today. I’m also married, and a mother. My life certainly wasn’t over; but it has changed completely.

In those early days after my diagnosis, I felt completely lost – but I managed to find the MS Trust website, which was a source I trusted and which I found immensely helpful. I still work closely with the MS Trust today.

I’m still on treatment to repress my symptoms – which, these days, are something called ‘foot drop’, which affects my walking; fatigue; and word-finding.

Physically, I can’t do what I once could. It’s become the norm that I fall asleep at around 8:30pm; and I sometimes wonder how long I can continue teaching. I want to be an active mother, and I am – but my injections of medication are part and parcel of our family life.

Then again, this doesn’t bother my daughter in the slightest – she’s always happy to play ‘nurse’ and to bring me a tissue or cuddle if I need it. And, while it took me a long time to tell people about my diagnosis – I think because I didn’t want to be seen as ‘different’ – now, I’m very open about it. If I can help even one person get a correct diagnosis of their own, meaning they can get started with treatment, it’ll be worth it.

Because that’s the scariest thing about MS; it’s an invisible illness. If you don’t get it investigated, you won’t get a diagnosis. It’s not like a broken arm which is there for all to see. Once you get an MRI; well, then, it’s black and white. But you have to get the MRI in the first place, and that’s not always easy.

So my advice for anyone else in a similar position to the one I was once in – being told by their GP that they’re fine when they know they’re not – is that it pays to be pushy. You know you better than anyone else. People might dismiss what you’re saying; but it’s your life. Get a second opinion; be ‘pushy’ until you feel you’ve been listened to.

Because I don’t think there’s such a thing as being ‘too pushy’ when it comes to your health and wellbeing.

For more information and support on living with MS, visit www.mstrust.org.uk

This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of Euphoria.

After the sexual content in Euphoria’s third season ruffled feathers for the first two weeks of the season, the latest instalment took the show in a very different, but just as extreme, direction.

Earlier in the season, viewers have seen Sydney Sweeney’s character Cassie turning to OnlyFans modelling to help pay for her lavish wedding to Jacob Elordi’s Nate.

In the most recent episode, Cassie and Nate’s big day finally arrived, but things took a dramatic turn when corrupt businessman Naz crashes the do to demand the hefty sum of money he’s owed by Jacob’s character.

Nate is then beaten up by Naz’s henchman on his wedding night, and to prove just how serious the shady dealer is, this sequence ends with him cutting off Nate’s toe with pliers.

The violent sequence has already generated a lot of conversation online, with some critics calling it Euphoria’s answer to Game Of Thrones’ infamous “red wedding”.

Actor Jack Topalian, who plays Naz, told Page Six that while a “prosthetic” was obviously used for the exact toe-slicing moment, it still made for a somewhat dangerous shoot.

“The clippers that they gave me have pretty sharp edges,” he recalled. “So, I had to be really mindful of that, because at one point, I do put it around Jake’s toe.

“If I squeezed a little too hard, it would literally cut his toe. But, everything turned out well! There were no mishaps, no accidents.”

The third season of Euphoria – which is widely reported to be the final one – reunites the show’s main cast after an extended break, with Jacob and Sydney being joined by the likes of Zendaya, Hunter Schafer and Oscar nominee Colman Domingo.

Critical reception for the new episodes has so far been pretty muted, with some questioning if the show has lost its way in ageing up its characters, who were first introduced as high school students in the show’s first two seasons.

Euphoria continues on Mondays on HBO Max and Sky in the UK.

Keir Starmer is set to see off a Tory bid to have him investigated by a Commons committee over his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal.

The prime minister is accused of misleading parliament by claiming that “due process” was followed in the shamed former Labour peer’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to Washington.

It emerged two weeks ago that UK Security Vetting (UKSV) had in fact recommended Mandelson not be given clearance to take up the role.

He was eventually cleared for so-called “developed vetting” by Sir Olly Robbins, who was the top civil servant in the Foreign Office at the time.

Starmer controversially sacked Robbins for not telling him about the UKSV findings.

In a bombshell committee appearance last week , Robbins said there was “constant pressure” from No.10 for Mandelson’s appointment to be approved – a claim denied by Starmer at prime minister’s questions the following day.

On Tuesday, MPs will debate and vote on an attempt by the Conservatives for Starmer to be referred to parliament’s Privileges Committee over the row.

However, Labour MPs have been told by the party’s whips that they must vote against the move, meaning it is all-but certain to fail, given the party’s huge Commons majority.

A government minister told HuffPost UK: “We needn’t whip heavily. The Parliamentary Labour Party is pretty united on this. It will be a damp squib.”

Starmer told a meeting of the PLP on Monday evening that the vote was “a political stunt” by the Tories just over a week out from the May 7 elections in England, Scotland and Wales.

He said: “Tomorrow is pure politics and we need to stand together against it.”

In a plea for Labour MPs’ support, the PM described the allegations that he misled parliament as “totally baseless” and “absolutely ridiculous”.

“It’s important to see the bigger picture here,” he said. “They want to stop this Labour government. And we know why.

“Because we are the first government for generations to take key parts of the public realm back into public ownership. They don’t like that, but we’re doing it.

“The first government for generations to give rights and power to workers, to renters, to the less fortunate. The first government for generations prepared to stand against wealth interests, to raise money and put that into public services and fighting child poverty. They don’t like it, they said they’d reverse it.

“We have a mandate to do all of those things. And they are not going to stop us.”

He added: “When we stick together and fight together we are so much stronger.”

Meanwhile, the PM’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, will on Tuesday give evidence on the Mandelson affair to parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

Sir Olly Robbins’ predecessor as permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, Sir Philip Barton, will also be quizzed by the committee about Mandelson’s appointment.

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

America is being “humiliated” by Iran over negotiations to end the war in the country, Germany’s chancellor has declared.

Friedrich Merz said he “can’t tell what strategic exit the Americans are pursuing” exactly two months after the conflict began.

A ceasefire is currently in place, but there is little prospect of an imminent peace deal being reached.

Meanwhile, the key waterway the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, while the US is blockading Iran’s ports.

Donald Trump last week called off planned peace talks which had been due to be held between American and Iranian officials in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, insisting they were a waste of time.

Posting on Truth Social, he said: “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call.”

But Merz said: “At the moment I can’t tell what strategic exit the Americans are pursuing, especially since the Iranians are obviously negotiating very skilfully, or perhaps very skilfully refusing to negotiate, and are letting the Americans travel to Islamabad only to send them back home empty-handed.

“An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so called Revolutionary Guards.”

Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s highly-respected chief international correspondent, has said any peace deal “will take a long time” to be reached because “neither side wants to back down”.

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.