Former lobbyist and Labour insider reinvented himself as a therapist after twice withdrawing from politics
By his own admission Derek Draper could be a “cocky know-it-all”. His self-confidence was, on occasions, his undoing.
Yet even those who had some reason to be embarrassed by his behaviour recognised he had a rare ebullience. Two former prime ministers led the political tributes, with Tony Blair saying Draper was “someone you always wanted on your side”.
Continue reading...Climate thinktank says Britain could be left trailing in global race to develop low-carbon energy
Labour’s independent energy advisers have warned the party against watering down its £28bn green spending plans in advance of its promise to create a zero carbon electricity system by 2030.
Experts at the climate thinktank Ember, which provided the independent analysis underpinning Labour’s green targets, said growing international competition for low-carbon investment from the US and EU could leave the UK lagging in the global race for low-carbon energy.
Continue reading...PM appears to rule out spring election after recent speculation it could be held in May
Starmer says being in opposition is frustrating, and he accuses the Tories of treating it as performance art.
He is now on the passage about his career in public service that was posted earlier. See 9.12am.
If you’ve been breaking your back to keep trading, steering your business through the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, the challenge of Brexit and the chaos of Westminster.
If you’ve been serving our country, whether in scrubs or the uniform of your regiment and what you want now is a politics that serves you, then make no mistake - this is your year.
Continue reading...Statement is clearest sign yet party is willing to drop one of its flagship policies in face of Conservative attacks
Keir Starmer has ruled out breaking Labour’s fiscal rules to meet its green investment targets if it wins the election this year, in the clearest sign yet that the party is willing to scale back one of its flagship policies in the face of Conservative attacks.
The Labour leader told an audience in Bristol on Thursday that he would not borrow £28bn to spend on green projects if it meant breaking a separate promise to reduce government debt as a proportion of economic output.
Continue reading...PM says it is his ‘working assumption’ vote will be called in latter part of year, puncturing Labour hopes of earlier poll
Rishi Sunak has given his strongest indication yet that he will not call a general election until the second half of 2024, puncturing Labour hopes that it could come as early as the spring.
The prime minister told broadcasters on Thursday it was his “working assumption” the vote would be called in the latter part of the year, giving him more time to try to reverse the Conservatives’ deficit in the polls. The date of the election is solely in his hands after the repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in 2022.
Continue reading...In a speech in the west of England, Labour leader will say he wants British people to believe in politics again
A Labour win at this year’s election will improve the mood of “a downtrodden country”, Keir Starmer will say, as he hopes to inject a note of optimism into what is set to be one of the most bitterly fought campaigns in recent history.
The Labour leader will set out his pitch to voters at a speech in the west of England on Thursday marking the beginning of what Labour believes will be a five-month lead-up to the election.
Continue reading...Chief strategist uses examples from around world to urge against complacency, warning ‘polls do not predict the future’
Labour’s poll lead could collapse in the weeks before the general election, the party’s chief campaign strategist has told shadow ministers, as he warned them not to be complacent going into the election year.
Morgan McSweeney, Labour’s director of campaigns, recently gave a presentation to the shadow cabinet in which he showed MPs what happened in the months before eight different elections from around the world. In each case, the clear favourite lost after their poll lead disappeared in the weeks leading up to the vote.
Continue reading...Downing Street refuses to endorse home secretary as he says his aim is to reduce number of people crossing Channel on small boats to ‘zero’. This live blog is closed
At the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the PM’s spokesperson claimed the government had “gone further” than promised in tackling the asylum application backlog. In response to comments from Labour and others saying the legacy backlog has not been fully cleared, the spokesperson said:
We committed to clearing the backlog. That is what the government has done.
We are being very transparent about what that entails.
I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023.
That’s exactly what we’ve done.
Airstrikes against Houthi rebels and the prospect of a year-long Gaza conflict will test cross-party thinking at Westminster
Two developments in the past 48 hours could test the cross-party consensus in Westminster on the conflict between Israel and Hamas: the signal sent by the Ministry of Defence that it is prepared to join the US in launching airstrikes against Houthi sites in Yemen, and statements by the Israeli political and military leadership that the war may take months or even a whole year to complete.
Labour has so far largely concurred with UK government policy, which in turn has largely shadowed thinking inside the White House.
Continue reading...Measures include target for British food in public institutions and seeking veterinary deal with EU
Labour has pledged to improve food security and boost the UK’s agriculture sector with a “new deal for farmers”, including a target that at least half of the food used in hospitals, schools and prisons is British.
Condemning what the party called an abandonment of farmers under the Conservatives, the plan also includes a reiteration of Labour’s proposal to seek to sign a new veterinary agreement with the EU.
Continue reading...Call by economics of happiness expert Richard Layard comes as research agency set up under David Cameron is to be axed in Whitehall cuts
A Labour government should make the UK the world’s first country to make policy based on its impact on wellbeing as well as the economy, one of the world’s leading experts on the economics of happiness has said.
With Keir Starmer in No 10, Downing Street should require Whitehall departments to appraise the potential impact on citizens’ wellbeing when they make funding bids, Richard Layard said. The next chancellor should announce measures of happiness and misery alongside GDP in their annual budget statements, he added.
Continue reading...Shadow front bencher says Keir Starmer would not have resignation honours after ‘appalling spectacle’ of ex-prime minister ‘rewarding cronies’
Labour last night promised there would be no resignation honour’s list issued by Keir Starmer if he were to become prime minister, as outrage grew over the list of peerages, knighthoods and other rewards showered by Liz Truss on those associated with her disastrous 49 days in office.
Shadow leader of the House, Lucy Powell, told the Observer: “The appalling spectacle of Truss rewarding her cronies for helping her crash the economy and cause mortgage misery for millions demeans politics.
Continue reading...Party historian MP Jon Cruddas questions readiness for power of leader with few ties to movement’s roots or ideology
A key centre-left Labour MP says Keir Starmer appears to lack a clear sense of purpose due to his detachment from his party’s traditions, and casts doubt on whether he can become one of its more successful prime ministers.
In A Century of Labour, a book published to mark 100 years since the formation of the first Labour government on 22 January 1924 under Ramsay MacDonald, Jon Cruddas says that Starmer – while clearly a “decent” and “principled” man – “remains an elusive leader, difficult to find”.
Continue reading...While a handful of politicians have openly discussed the stresses of their job, the scale of the problem appears far greater
It was a year after they were made a minister when the MP had the second breakdown of their political career, and realised they simply had no idea what to do next: “I was so terrified. I didn’t know who to talk to. There didn’t seem to be anybody I could trust.
“A family member told me to take time off. But as a minister if you were to say you needed time off sick, the whips would go, ‘Yeah, fine. We’ll get someone else to do your job.’ It’s often easier to keep your head down and pretend.”
Continue reading...Srichand P Hinduja spoke to diplomat over fears of embroiling Labour party in row, National Archives files show
The man at the centre of the “cash-for-passports” scandal two decades ago asked the government if he should delay returning to the UK until after the 2001 general election, newly released official files show.
Srichand P Hinduja was embroiled in a row that ultimately led to the second resignation of Peter Mandelson from the cabinet over his actions when the businessman, who made a £1m donation to the Millennium Dome, was applying for a British passport.
Continue reading...Emily Thornberry says country is desperate, and Labour is ready, for general election
Labour is talking up the prospect of a May 2024 general election, with the shadow cabinet minister Emily Thornberry saying it was “the worst kept secret in Westminster” that a contest would be called then.
Thornberry told Sky News on Thursday that the government’s decision to announce a budget in early March – the earliest date in 13 years apart from during the pandemic – “seems to confirm” that May is the most likely date.
Continue reading...Party has asked former Ofsted head Sir David Bell to find new ways to increase levels of childcare
Labour is considering creating thousands of nursery places inside existing primary schools in England and has tasked the former Ofsted head Sir David Bell with finding new ways to increase levels of childcare.
In the latest evolution of Labour’s policy in an area that still has a widespread shortage of spaces, plus a lack of affordability and staffing, Bell will advise on potential ways to tackle this, with detailed policies set out nearer the election.
Continue reading...Party says American-style sweetshops – some under investigation for tax evasion – are ripping off public
A Labour government will launch a crackdown on “dodgy” candy stores if it wins the next election, as part of plans to revitalise Britain’s high streets.
There are more than 20 of the US-themed sweet stores on Oxford Street, London, alone. Many of them appeared during lockdown as high-street stalwarts closed down and landlords faced the prospect of long-term empty shops.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer mulling ‘detailed plans’ to outsource process overseas as alternative to Rwanda plan
Labour is reportedly considering a scheme that would see asylum seekers’ claims processed elsewhere.
Keir Starmer is mulling “detailed plans” for an offshoring scheme as he seeks to deter Tory attacks on Labour’s alternative to the Rwanda plan, the Times said on Monday.
Continue reading...Home secretary said secret of a long marriage was sedating spouse on the same day a new policy on spiking was announced
James Cleverly has apologised for joking about spiking his wife’s drink with a date rape drug in comments made at a Downing Street reception.
The home secretary’s remarks came just hours after the Home Office announced plans to crack down on spiking, when someone puts drugs into another person’s drink or directly into their body without their knowledge or consent.
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