All posts tagged: labour party

Bombshell moment Starmer refuses to deny lobbying for second disgraced job | Politics | News

Bombshell moment Starmer refuses to deny lobbying for second disgraced job | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to deny that Downing Street tried to give another disgraced peer a top diplomatic job. Former Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins said on Tuesday that No 10 wanted him to look at “available head of mission jobs” for Lord Doyle, a former Downing Street director of communications who was later suspended from the Labour Party over his links to a convicted paedophile. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey asked whether the PM knew his office was lobbying for an ambassadorial role for Lord Doyle and whether they were doing it on his authority. Sir Keir told MPs: “Matthew Doyle worked for many years in public service for me as Prime Minister and other ministers. “When people leave roles in any organisation, there are very often conversations about other roles they may want to apply for. In this case, nothing came of it.” Sir Ed replied: “The House and the public watching will note the Prime Minister failed to answer my question.” Sir Olly said that …

Angela Rayner Holds Secret Meeting With Andy Burnham

Angela Rayner Holds Secret Meeting With Andy Burnham

Published by Sam Flores

Angela Rayner had a secret meeting with Andy Burnham on Friday night, according to new reports. The Sun on Sunday shared photos of the Greater Manchester mayor arriving at the former deputy prime minister’s constituency home in Ashton. Their summit adds to mounting speculation the two soft-left Labour figures might be considering launching a joint coup. Their encounter came hours after Keir Starmer furiously defended his premiership amid fresh developments in the Peter Mandelson scandal. It was revealed by the Guardian this week that the ex-Labour peer failed security vetting, but still secured the top job as the UK’s ambassador to the US. Starmer has since insisted that he was not told Mandelson had failed and only found out on Tuesday night. He then sacked the chief of the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, on Thursday night. As scrutiny over Starmer’s judgement grows once again, technology secretary Liz Kendall sent a message to the PM’s potential opponents this morning. She said: “Any politician that focuses more on their future and their job, not people’s future sand …

Keir Starmer facing ‘resignation time’ over Peter Mandelson scandal | Politics | News

Keir Starmer facing ‘resignation time’ over Peter Mandelson scandal | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

The flare-up of the Mandelson scandal threatens Sir Keir Starmer’s political future (Image: Getty) Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to quit so the Government will not be distracted by a “personal crisis of his own making” following the latest revelations about Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador. The Labour leader’s future could hinge on the expected appearance before MPs on Tuesday by Olly Robbins. The former top civil servant at the Foreign Office was ousted on Thursday amid claims his department did not tell the Prime Minister that Mandelson had failed security vetting. Sir Keir will stand before MPs on Monday and detail how Mandelson – a former close friend of billionaire sex predator Jeffrey Epstein – was granted the top diplomatic post. The PM claims “no minister was told” that this veteran of the Blair and Brown governments had failed the vetting process. A Labour MP told the Sunday Express: “If that is proven incorrect then I think we are talking resignation time, to be honest.” The MP said the evidence that Mr …

Labour In Turmoil As Mandelson Saga Threatens To Take Down PM

Labour In Turmoil As Mandelson Saga Threatens To Take Down PM

Published by Sam Flores

Keir Starmer may be seeing red over the latest Peter Mandelson drama but so are Labour MPs. Three weeks before the May elections – when voters will choose their candidates for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments along with some English councils and mayoralties – the prime minister has been hit with a fresh revelation about the ex-ambassador. It appears security vetting officials advised against hiring Mandelson last year but the Foreign Office decided to give him the job as the UK’s attaché to Washington anyway. The prime minister promptly sacked the Foreign Office’s top civil servant Olly Robbins hours after the Guardian broke the story on Thursday night. Downing Street said neither Starmer nor other government ministers were not aware until this week that Mandelson, former friend to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, had not passed vetting. Starmer told the press he was “furious” that he had not been told ahead of giving Mandelson the plum post. Meanwhile, his political opponents have accused Starmer of misleading parliament after he previously told MPs “full due process” was …

Labour MPs Urged To Campaign In London Amid Green Surge Fears

Labour MPs Urged To Campaign In London Amid Green Surge Fears

Published by Sam Flores

Labour MPs from across the country are being urged to campaign in London over the next fortnight as the party fears losing key councils to the Greens. Voters in the capital, as well as millions of people across England, Scotland and Wales, will go to the polls for crunch elections on May 7. Experts, as well as Labour MPs themselves, are predicting that the party is heading for “a bloodbath” as the electorate delivers a damning verdict of the government’s performance so far. MPs will return to Westminster on Monday after the two-week Easter recess. Labour chair Anna Turley has written to the party’s MPs who were first elected at the 2024 general election urging them to get out knocking on doors while they are in London. In her message, seen by HuffPost UK, she says: “Back to London next week!Let’s make our time there really count in the last few weeks of the campaign! “Every London council seat is up for election in May. I know you’re all doing great work across the country …

Rachel Reeves has plan for UK economy – you’re going to hate it | Personal Finance | Finance

Rachel Reeves has plan for UK economy – you’re going to hate it | Personal Finance | Finance

Published by Sam Flores

As the Middle East intensifies, with Iranian-funded Houthi rebels now targeting the Suez Canal, the risks are multiplying fast. Energy prices are surging with the Strait of Hormuz mostly blocked to tankers. Petrol, heating, gas and electricity prices will soar as a result. So will food bills, as oil is used to make fertiliser and feedstock. Even pharmaceuticals could be hit. Businesses face mounting costs, while households are already cutting back spending, the last thing the economy needs. There’s talk of blackouts and a return to a four-day working week if energy has to be rationed. Does any of that sound familiar? It should if you lived through the 1970s. Now we’re heading for a re-run of that decade of disaster. And potentially even worse. In 1973, Middle East turmoil triggered an energy shock. Oil prices quadrupled and the UK faced real shortages. Government ministers even prepared petrol ration books. Electricity was effectively rationed through the three-day week, with businesses forced to shut for part of the week. Inflation surged while growth stalled, which is …

Labour MPs Believe Keir Starmer Will Not Be Ousted In May

Labour MPs Believe Keir Starmer Will Not Be Ousted In May

Published by Sam Flores

The pre-written obituaries for Keir Starmer’s time in Downing Street are unlikely to be published this year. Labour MPs from across all wings of the party have told HuffPost UK that the under-fire prime minister will survive what promises to be a catastrophic set of election results on May 7 – and see in 2027 in No.10 as well. Voters will go to the polls in Scotland, Wales and England in what will be the biggest test of public opinion since the general election in 2024. Even previously-defiant Labour MPs now accept that they will be catastrophic for the party. The SNP will comfortably win the Scottish Parliament election, with Labour in a fight with Reform UK to be Holyrood’s official opposition party. For the first time since devolution was established in 1999, Labour will no longer run the Welsh government. A YouGov poll this week suggested that Plaid Cymru will win, with Labour a distant third behind Reform. A similar trend will be seen in local councils across England, where Labour could lose up …

Starmer’s Bleak Warning About Impact Of Iran And Ukraine Wars

Starmer’s Bleak Warning About Impact Of Iran And Ukraine Wars

Published by Sam Flores

Keir Starmer has warned about the long-lasting impacts of the Iran and Ukraine wars, saying how the conflicts end could “define us for a generation”. The prime minister was speaking as confusion remains over Donald Trump’s attempts to secure a ceasefire with Iran. The White House is also still trying to force Ukraine to compromise with its aggressor Russia and end its four-year war. The prime minister said the conflicts would have “huge implications” for the future and alter the global order. Speaking to Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction, he said both wars are “very serious, both of them with huge implications”. “How they end and on what terms, could well define us for a generation,” Starmer said. “Both of them have those sorts of consequences. “And that’s why it’s really important that we approach this with our values and principles. “That’s what we’ve applied in Ukraine, and that’s what we’ve applied in Iran.” The prime minister said the UK was helping put together a coalition of countries willing to help keep the Strait of Hormuz …

Bombshell poll predicts staggering wins for Nigel Farage – and mammoth losses for Labour | Politics | News

Bombshell poll predicts staggering wins for Nigel Farage – and mammoth losses for Labour | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

Nigel Farage is on course for huge wins (Image: Getty) Nigel Farage’s Reform UK could win a staggering 2,260 seats at next month’s local elections in England. Polling experts are predicting the biggest victory in decades. And they have warned that Labour could lose almost 2,000 councillors as the nation turns on Sir Keir Starmer. The Tories are also expected to suffer a brutal night on May 7, which could see them losing more than 1,000 seats. Zack Polanski’s Green Party is likely to be the biggest beneficiary, boosting its numbers on councils across the country by around 450. Read more: One huge mistake by Rachel Reeves made the UK economy weaker before Iran war According to leading psephologist Steve Fisher, Reform UK’s expected victories will dwarf those of Labour under new leader Tony Blair in 1995. During that year’s local elections, Labour won 1,661 seats, helping to pave the way for their landslide General Election victory two years later. But Labour could lose 1,900 seats this time around in what would be their worst …