"Labour MPs looked over the precipice, once Anas Sarwar made his statement, and they didn't like what they saw. And they thought the right thing to do was to unite behind Keir, to focus on the country, because we didn't want to go down the road of the Tories when they were in power chaotic, disorderly leadership contest."
"But I want to be very clear; Peter Mandelson should never have been appointed to this post. We are a government whose central purpose, I believe, is to stand up for the powerless, not the powerful, and it undermines that. And this has got to be a moment of change where we have much greater clarity of purpose, avoid some of the mistakes that we've made, but also focus outwards on the country."
Keir Starmer faced a potential leadership challenge after Tim Allan's resignation and Anas Sarwar's declaration of no confidence, but cabinet ministers and Angela Rayner rallied to his defence. The episode exposed communications weaknesses at No 10 and prompted calls for a new communications director. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband defended Starmer, arguing MPs had 'looked over the precipice' and chose unity to avoid a chaotic leadership contest. Miliband criticized Peter Mandelson's appointment, said the government must stand up for the powerless, and demanded clarity of purpose. He warned that effective policies were being drowned out by mistakes such as removing winter fuel payments.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]