Energy Secretary Ed Miliband Encourages Labour to Look Ahead Following Starmer Offers Apology to Wes Streeting for Aggressive Backgrounding
High-ranking Labour Party figure Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has urged the party to leave behind party tensions after PM Keir Starmer directly apologised to Health Secretary Wes Streeting over damaging briefings linked to Number 10.
Major Developments
- Ed Miliband confirms the Prime Minister will dismiss the No 10 official responsible for attacking Streeting if identified
- Miliband rejects future leadership plans, saying his previous experience as Labour leader was the "best inoculation" against seeking the position again
- UK economic growth increased by just 0.1% in the third quarter, affected by the JLR hack
Situation
The internal controversy began after reports circulated about hostile background comments from Starmer's allies targeting Streeting. Despite initial attempts to downplay the matter, the conversation between Starmer and Streeting according to sources followed a different direction.
The Prime Minister apologised to Wes Streeting, the media have been informed. The discussion was concise, and they did not address the chief of staff, whom Starmer is now under pressure to remove.
The Energy Secretary's Response
In his early morning broadcast interviews, Miliband stressed the need for the Labour Party to focus on national issues rather than internal disputes.
Clearly, I think the backgrounding has been damaging, certainly.
But my call to the party now is quite simple, which is we need to concentrate on the nation, not each other.
We were given a historic election win last July, a historic chance to transform our country. And we have a serious duty.
Growth News
In other news, official data showed the UK economy grew by just 0.1% in the third quarter, with the production industry especially affected by the recently reported JLR cyber-attack.
The Day's Agenda
- Morning: The National Health Service releases its monthly data
- Today: The Health Secretary is visiting Liverpool
- Today: The Chancellor makes comments to the media
- Late morning: Downing Street holds its regular media briefing
- Today: Keir Starmer promotes plans for the UK's pioneering small modular reactor facility at Wylfa site on Anglesey
