Energy Secretary Ed Miliband Encourages the Labour Party to Focus Forward After Keir Starmer Offers Apology to Wes Streeting for Hostile Backgrounding
Senior Labour official Ed Miliband has demanded the party to leave behind internal conflicts after PM Keir Starmer personally apologised to health minister Wes Streeting over negative briefings coming from Number 10.
Major Events
- Miliband confirms Starmer will dismiss the Downing Street official responsible for briefing against Wes Streeting if identified
- The Energy Secretary rejects future party leader ambitions, declaring his previous time as Labour leader was the "best vaccine" against desiring the position again
- British economy expanded by just 0.1% in the July-September period, affected by the Jaguar Land Rover hack
Situation
The internal turmoil began after media stories circulated about negative background comments from Starmer's team targeting the Health Secretary. Despite early efforts to minimize the incident, the talk between Starmer and the health minister apparently took a more serious turn.
Starmer apologised to Streeting, journalists have been told. The exchange was brief, and they did not address the chief of staff, whom the PM is now under increasing scrutiny to remove.
The Energy Secretary's Statement
In his morning media interviews, Ed Miliband stressed the need for the party to direct attention on country-wide issues rather than internal conflicts.
Clearly, I think the backgrounding has been unhelpful, certainly.
But my message to the Labour party now is clear, which is we need to concentrate on the country, not our internal matters.
We were given a historic election win last July, a important chance to improve our nation. And we have a major responsibility.
Growth News
Meanwhile, government statistics indicated the British economic performance grew by just 0.1% in the July-September period, with the manufacturing sector especially affected by the recently reported JLR hack.
The Day's Agenda
- 9.30am: The National Health Service releases its latest performance figures
- Morning: The Health Secretary is visiting the Liverpool area
- Today: Rachel Reeves speaks to the media
- Late morning: Downing Street conducts its regular lobby briefing
- Morning: The Prime Minister promotes plans for the UK's pioneering nuclear power facility at Wylfa site on the island of Anglesey
