Ed Miliband Calls on Labour to Focus Forward Following Keir Starmer Offers Apology to Streeting for Negative Briefings
Senior Labour Party official Ed Miliband has called for the party to put aside internal tensions after PM Sir Keir Starmer directly apologised to health minister Wes Streeting over damaging media stories linked to Downing Street.
Key Updates
- Miliband confirms the Prime Minister will fire the Downing Street source behind for targeting Wes Streeting if identified
- Miliband rules out future party leader ambitions, saying his previous time as Labour leader was the "best vaccine" against wanting the position again
- British economy grew by just 0.1% in the third quarter, impacted by the Jaguar Land Rover hack
Context
The political controversy erupted after allegations circulated about negative background comments from the Prime Minister's allies targeting the Health Secretary. Although initial efforts to downplay the incident, the discussion between the PM and the health minister apparently took a different direction.
Starmer expressed regret to Wes Streeting, the media have been told. The conversation was concise, and they did not address the chief of staff, whom Starmer is now under increasing scrutiny to sack.
The Energy Secretary's Reaction
In his morning media appearances, Miliband highlighted the need for the Labour Party to focus on country-wide issues rather than internal disputes.
Clearly, I think the backgrounding has been bad, certainly.
But my message to the party now is clear, which is we need to concentrate on the country, not our internal matters.
We were given a historic victory last July, a important chance to improve our country. And we have a historic obligation.
Economic News
In other news, official data showed the UK economic performance expanded by just 0.1 percent in the July-September period, with the industrial industry especially hit by the recently reported Jaguar Land Rover security incident.
Today's Schedule
- Morning: NHS England releases its latest data
- Today: Wes Streeting visits Liverpool
- Morning: The Chancellor makes comments to the media
- Late morning: Downing Street conducts its daily media briefing
- Today: The Prime Minister promotes plans for the Britain's pioneering nuclear power facility at Wylfa on the island of Anglesey
