Enthusiasm for public sector pay awards tempered by concern over winter fuel payment cuts and job losses
“We’re hearing an awful lot about tough times: it’s like being in a Dickens novel. What comes after the tough times? We need to hear about hope.”
Onay Kasab, the national lead officer for the Unite trade union, was addressing a leftwing fringe meeting, but similar sentiments reverberated through the bars and coffee shops at this week’s TUC congress in Brighton.
Continue reading...UK PM responds to Putin’s threat that use of long-range British missiles inside Russia would put it at war with Nato
Keir Starmer has told Vladimir Putin that he started the war in Ukraine and could end it at any time after the Russian leader warned that any use of long-range British missiles into Russian territory would put Nato at war with his country.
The prime minister spoke en route to Washington to see US president Joe Biden as he sought to justify a western decision made behind closed doors that would allow Ukraine to attack inside Russia with partly British-made Storm Shadow missiles.
Continue reading...Spokesperson for Keir Starmer says focus was instead on encouraging pensioners to seek additional support
Ministers did not carry out a specific impact assessment on the withdrawal of the winter fuel payment from the bulk of pensioners, such as the potential effect on illness and death rates among older people, Downing Street has said.
After days of No 10 refusing to comment, Keir Starmer’s deputy spokesperson said the only assessment made before the policy announcement was a standard legal one of potential equalities impacts.
Continue reading...The government saw off a rebellion over its plans to cut winter fuel allowance this week. John Harris speaks to Caroline Abrahams from Age UK about what this winter will look like for millions of pensioners losing out. Plus, he talks to columnist Rafael Behr about whether the technocrats (Starmer and Reeves) are taking the Labour party in the wrong direction
Continue reading...British steel industry braced for 2,500 job cuts at the Port Talbot steelworks
Some of Keir Starmer’s critics complain that he overdoes the gloom and negativity when talking about the outlook facing the country. A speech he gave in Downing Street in August is remembered as the ‘things can only get worse’ speech, after he told his audience: “Frankly - things will get worse before we get better.”
But he may be revising the message a bit. Yesterday he held a briefing with Scottish lobby journalists in Downing Street, embargoed until today, and, according to the PA Media report, he told them his government offered a “big message of hope”, despite having had to make decisions which “appear gloomy and hard”.
There is massive hope in this, what we want to do, the change we want to bring about is massive.
It is to make sure the economy is not only growing but growing across the whole of the United Kingdom, including in Scotland, which will be measured in living standards rising, people feeling better off in a material way.
Continue reading...Dozens said to be considering abstaining from Tuesday’s vote over pensioners’ payments, as PM says dealing with dissent is ‘matter for chief whip’
As many as 50 Labour MPs could refuse to back the government’s controversial plan to cut the winter fuel allowance, despite Keir Starmer urging back benchers to get behind a measure he has conceded is “unpopular”.
While few on the government benches are expected to vote against the policy in Tuesday’s vote, dozens are believed to be considering abstaining or being absent – though rebels say the numbers in their ranks are very hard to predict.
Continue reading...Sources fear meeting with Ursula von der Leyen postponed due to Labour’s doubts about reinstating EU student exchange schemes
Keir Starmer’s anticipated summit with the president of the European Commission has been postponed over what some see as the British government’s caution about reinstating programmes such as the youth mobility and Erasmus university exchange schemes.
The prime minister was expected to meet Ursula von der Leyen in the first or second week of September, but sources have said a meeting may now not happen until the end of October at the earliest.
Continue reading...As documents reveal EU ‘not prepared’ to change, Keir Starmer is reminded of Labour’s manifesto pledge
Industry insiders have urged the UK government to find a solution to post-Brexit restrictions on live music touring, after EU documents suggested Brussels was “not prepared” to change regulations.
In Labour’s manifesto, Keir Starmer pledged to improve trade and investment relations with the EU to “help our touring artists” . Since Brexit, musicians touring the EU have faced barriers introduced in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). They can work up to 90 out of every 180 days, which causes problems for longer tours, musicians who work in multiple bands or orchestras, and crew required on site before and after performances.
Continue reading...US secretary of state will be most senior US official to have travelled to London since Labour’s election victory
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will head to London next week to discuss the Middle East and Ukraine, the state department announced on Saturday, in advance of a US visit by prime minister Keir Starmer.
Blinken’s visit to London on Monday and Tuesday will be the most senior by a US official since the Labour party won the general election in July, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.
Continue reading...Britain’s pandemic response was among the worst and the NHS had been ‘seriously weakened’, says leading surgeon
• Three reports lay bare scale of NHS malaise, but will Reeves fund a remedy?
Britain was hit far harder by the Covid-19 pandemic than other developed countries because the NHS had been “seriously weakened” by disastrous government policies over the preceding decade, a wide-ranging report will conclude this week.
An assessment of the NHS by the world-renowned surgeon Prof Ara Darzi, commissioned in July by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, will find that the health service reduced its “routine healthcare activity by a far greater percentage than other health systems” in many key areas during the Covid crisis.
Continue reading...Starmer to hold talks with Irish counterpart on first official visit of a British PM to country for five years
Keir Starmer has said he believes there can be a “deep” reset of relations with Ireland after arriving in Dublin for his first official visit, with Northern Ireland, Brexit and joint international interests on the agenda.
It is the first official visit of a British prime minister since Boris Johnson visited in 2019 to try to salvage a Brexit deal after years of strained relations.
Continue reading...Ireland’s deputy PM welcomes warmer relations as Keir Starmer arrives for official visit – but cautions UK cannot ‘cherrypick’ issues
The UK cannot have an “à la carte” reset of the Brexit agreement, Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said, just hours before Keir Starmer headed to Dublin for his first official visit to Ireland.
The tánaiste said the EU wanted an improved EU-UK relationship but that the UK could not “cherrypick”.
Continue reading...Siberian kitten at No 10 may get frosty reception from chief mouser Larry, who took on George Osborne’s cat, Freya
On the face of it, the kitten that joined Keir Starmer’s family appears to have had a peaceful first week at an address where feline and human rivals have been known to get their claws out.
The arrival of the Siberian cat – as yet unnamed in public – was revealed on Monday by the prime minister, who said his children had been pushing for a dog to join them at Downing Street.
Continue reading...Owner of Ormiston Wire in London urges Keir Starmer not to forget small manufacturers in his dealings with EU
The head of a family-owned company that has made specialist wires and cables for six generations for clients ranging from naval vessels to film sets has blamed Brexit for shredding its business.
Mark Ormiston, the owner of Ormiston Wire, said small businesses such as his had been flushed “down the toilet” by the masterminds of Brexit who gave little thought to the real-life consequences for UK manufacturing.
Continue reading...Former home secretary finishes behind Mel Stride after only securing 14 votes
PMQs is starting soon. Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
Kemi Badenoch is the clear favourite of Conservative members for next leader, and will be very hard to beat if she makes it into the final ballot of two, according to a survey by ConservativeHome.
Continue reading...Plan to means-test benefit for pensioners criticised by opposition parties and some Labour backbenchers
Keir Starmer faces a test of his authority next week after promising a vote on the government’s plans to limit winter fuel allowance to the poorest pensioners.
MPs will get the chance to vote on secondary legislation on Tuesday that will introduce means-testing of the benefit after pressure from opposition parties and Labour backbenchers.
Continue reading...Shona Robison, Scottish finance secretary, says current financial situation facing Scottish government is ‘not sustainable’
Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister, is launching his campaign for the Tory leadership. There is a live feed here.
Tugendhat started by saying that he did not actually want the job, because he does not want to be leader of the opposition. He wants to be prime minister, he said.
Politics is not a game, and we all know the cost when government isn’t sober and serious. We saw it in the lives lost in Afghanistan and then in that wasted chaos of that withdrawal. We saw it during Covid, not just in the lost years of education that cost so many or the opportunities missed, or even in the grief for lost loved ones or those left to cope alone, but through the disrespect.
That’s why I’m standing before you today, because this country can change. We must change, and Britain deserves better, and we need a different government.
Continue reading...PM says ‘it’s unacceptable’ when asked about Jas Athwal allegations but adds MP is ‘taking action to put it right’
Keir Starmer has criticised a Labour MP who has been accused of renting out flats with black mould and ant infestations, calling the conditions “unacceptable”.
The prime minister addressed the accusations against Jas Athwal, the MP for Ilford South, on Monday after a report by the BBC quoted several of his tenants complaining about the conditions in the properties they rented from him. One said there were ants “everywhere”, adding: “They are on my kid’s body and on their clothes.”
Continue reading...PM says he will not take lectures from previous government as Kemi Badenoch launches Tory leadership campaign
Kemi Badenoch is speaking now. She says she wants to talk about the future.
She was born in the UK, but “grew up under socialism”, she says (referring to her childhood in Nigeria).
Labour have no ideas. At best, they are announcing things we have already done, and at their worst, they are clueless, irresponsible and dishonest.
They are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public about the state of Britain’s finances, placing political donors into civil service jobs, pretending that they have no plans to cut pensioner benefits before the election and then doing exactly that to cover the cost of pay rises for the unions with no promise of reform, But their model of spend, spend, spend is broken, and they don’t know what to do, and this will only lead to even more cynicism in politics.
Continue reading...Former UK prime minister praises Labour leader’s handling of riots and advises him not to put off the ‘hard decisions’
Tony Blair has urged Keir Starmer to ignore “vicious” social media platforms during his time as prime minister, saying that poring over the inevitable criticism that will rain down on him will trigger psychological problems.
“You know, you start scrolling through social media that’s written about you, it’s going to do your head in,” Blair says in an interview with the Observer’s chief political commentator, Andrew Rawnsley, about his new book, On Leadership, Lessons for the 21st century.
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